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THE  CRISIS  OF  MISSIONS  ;  or,  The  Voice  Out 
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STLIM15LING  STONES  REMOVED 


FROM  THE 


WORD  OF  GOD 


ARTHUR  T.  PIERSON 


"■Gather  out  the  stones.'' 


NEW  YORK 
THE  BAKER  &•  TAYLOR  CO. 

740  AND  742  Broadway 


Copyright,  1891,  i;y 
THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO. 


171,  173  Macdougal  Street,  New  York 


A  WORD  OF  PREFACE. 


We  use  the  expression,  "Stumbling  Stones," 
merely  by  way  of  accommodation.  The  most 
devout  and  patient  students  of  the  Word  of 
God  fail  to  find  inconsistencies,  contradictions 
or  real  discrepancies  in  the  Bible.  All  difificul- 
ties  are  due  either  to  the  imperfection  of  the 
medium  of  transmission,  human  language ;  or 
to  the  imperfection  of  the  receptacle  of  the 
truth,  the  human  mind  itself.  Our  limited  cap- 
acity, or  our  limited  point  of  view  and  range  of 
vision,  may  account  for  apparent  imperfections, 
obscurities  and  disagreements  in  the  Divine 
Word. 

The  purpose  of  this  little  book  is  not  so 
much  to  reach  those  who  accuse  and  assault 
the  Inspired  Word,  as  to  help  believers.  That 
old  Saint,  Kleker,  told  D'Aubigne,  that  to 
remove  one  difficulty  out  of  the  way  of  a 
caviller  only  makes  way  for  another  ;  and  that, 
if  one  will  only  take  Christ  as  a  complete 
Saviour  and  make  a  full  surrender  to  Him, 
difficulties  will    commonly    vanish.     We    be- 


IV  A   WORD  OF  PREFACE. 

lievc  that  it  is  the  heart  that  makes  the  the- 
ology ;  and  that  most  of  our  doubts  may  be 
ultimately  traced  to  an  "  evil  heart  of  unbelief  " 
that  departs  from  the  living  God. 

Nevertheless  even  the  most  candid  and 
reverent  believer  finds  in  the  Word  of  God, 
especially  in  the  English  Bible,  some  difificul- 
ties  or  hindrances  in  the  way  of  his  understand- 
ing, if  not  of  his  faith ;  and  such  disciples  it  is 
our  humble  aim  to  help : 

1.  By  removing  unnecessary  stumbling 
stones  out  of  their  way  ; 

2.  By  enabling  them  to  understand  what 
may  have  been  obscure  ; 

3.  By  laying  down  certain  laws  or  "  canons  " 
of  Interpretation  ; 

4.  By  exposing  devices  of  Satan  and  other 
adversaries  of  the  truth ; 

5.  By  showing  the  entire  symmetry  and 
self-consistency  of  the  Truth  itself. 

Where  real  contradiction  exists.  Error  must 
be  present.  Either  the  error  lies  in  what  we 
mistake  for  the  truths  as  a  mirage  is  mistaken 
for  a  reality ;  or  the  error  lies  in  our  own 
organs  of  visio7i\  our  eye,  being  diseased,  sees 
double  where  the  object  is  single.  A  true  be- 
liever runs  no  risk  in  calmly  and  resolutely 
examining  into  any  alleged  difficulty  or  dis- 
crepancy in  the  Bible.  If  one  encounters  a 
supposed  ghost  on  a  dark  night,  the  best  way  is 


A   WORD  OF  PREFACE.  V 

to  walk  up  to  it,  and  look  it  squarely  in  the 
face.  To  flee  from  a  supposed  apparition 
may  leave  a  lingering  doubt  whether  the 
ghostly  illusion  were  a  reality  or  not :  a  bold 
touch  would  have  dispelled  both  the  illusion 
and  the  doubt.  To  wait  patiently  and  to 
search  diligently  is  to  find  even  the  most 
formidable  difficulties  vanish,  and  to  see  the 
error  to  be  one  of  our  own  ignorance  or  mis- 
apprehension. Nay,  it  often  happens  that 
stumbling  stones  become  stepping  stones,  and 
hindrances  are  changed  to  helps. 

Arthur  T.  Pierson. 

2320  Spruce  St,  Philadelphia  Pa. 
October,  1890. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 
The  Difficulties  Stated—The  Causes  of  Dis- 
crepancies. 

PART  II. 
General    Suggestions — The    Laws    of    Inter- 
pretation,  ETC. 

PART  111. 
The  Uses  of  Discrepancies — Conclusion. 


STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 
FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 


PART  I. 


THE      DIFFICULTIES     STATED THE     CAUSES 

OF    DISCREPANCIES. 

The  so-called  '  discrepancies' of  Holy 
Scripture  may  be  classified  as  follows  : 

First,  verbal,  or  such  as  concern  the 
words  or  letters  of  Scripture  ; 

Secondly,  historical,  or  such  as  concern 
the  names  of  persons  and  places,  num- 
bers, dates,  and  historical  statements  or 
events  ; 

Thirdly,  moral,  or  such  as  concern 
ethical  precepts  and  principles,  duties 
and  relations  ;  and, 

Fourthly,  doct7'inal,  or  such  as  concern 
the  direct  doctrinal  teaching  of  the  word, 
especially  as  to  the  higher  class  of  spirit- 


8  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

ual  truths.  The  bibliography  of  this 
subject  is  quite  extensive.  Some  fifty  or 
more  volumes  have  been  published, 
which  treat,  more  or  less  exclusively,  this 
theme,  one  of  which,  by  Mr.  Haley, 
covers  over  five  hundred  pages.  There 
are  probably  not  less  than  five  hundred 
other  works  which  contain  extended  ref- 
erence to  these  discrepancies  ;  so  that,  in 
the  effort  to  condense  what  needs  to  be 
written  upon  such  a  subject  into  a  very 
brief  compass,  we  find  no  little  additional 
difficulty.  But,  as  a  bulky  treatise 
would  defeat  our  object,  we  shall  simply 
group  all  the  '  discrepancies '  together, 
and  offer  general  suggestions  and  princi- 
ples, covering  various  particulars  in  each 
class. 

We  begin,  very  naturally,  by  inquiring 
whence  these  appareiit  discrepancies  come. 
What  Is  their  sotcrce? 

The  first  general  class  are  those  which 
come  from  variations  in  the  mere  letter 
of  Scripture. 

I.  Errors  in  Transcription. 

In  the  absence  of  the  printing  press  all 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  9 

copies  of  the  Word  of  God  were  of 
course  the  product  of  the  manual  labor 
of  scribes.  Prof.  Norton  estimates  that, 
by  the  end  of  the  second  century,  there 
were  sixty  thousand  manuscripts  of  the 
Gospel  in  existence  ;  and,  including  man- 
uscripts of  the  Old  Testament,  millions  of 
copies  of  God's  Word  have  doubtless 
been  made  in  the  course  of  the  ages. 
From  seven  hundred  to  one  thousand 
Greek  manuscripts  are  now  extant,  of 
which  fifty  are  one  thousand  years  old, 
and  some  few  are  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred years  old,  whereas  the  oldest  exist- 
ing classic  manuscript  is  not  nine  hun- 
dred. Of  course  the  original  manuscripts 
of  the  Bible  have  all  disappeared,  and 
God  meant  that  they  should,  to  save  us 
from  a  similar  idolatry  to  that  which 
lifted  the  Brazen  Serpent  and  Gideon's 
Ephod  to  divine  honors. 

In  producing  exact  copies,  perfect 
accuracy  would  be  impossible  without  a 
perpetual  miracle  of  divine  supervision, 
as  great  as  that  of  original  Inspiration. 
Even  in  printed  books  it  is  found  imprac- 


lO  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

ticable  to  secure  entire  freedom  from 
errors  ;  even  when  large  rewards  have 
been  offered  for  their  detection,  new  ones 
have  been  found  after  the  two  hun- 
dredth reading.  How  much  more  diffi- 
cult to  secure  absolute  accuracy  when  the 
first  form  is  also  the  final  form  and  there 
is  no  chance  to  correct  "  proof !" 

In  manual  transcriptions  mistakes  are 
therefore  inevitable. 

1.  Hebrew  letters  often  closely  resemble 
each  other. 

There  are  at  least  eight  pairs  of  letters,  so 
nearly  alike  as  to  be  constantly  mistaken  for 
each  other,  like  the  English  b  and  d,  c  and  e, 
f  and  old-fashioned  s,  (f)  1  and  t.  Old  manu- 
scripts became  faded  and  blurred,  and  this  in- 
creased the  liability  of  such  errors,  and  mis- 
takes in  names  and  figures  easily  arose  in  this 
way,  where  the  context  and  general  sense  fur- 
nished no  guide. 

2.  It  is  probable  that,  both  in  the  He- 
brew and  Greek  manuscripts,  letters  were 
anciently  used  for  numerals. 

Warrington  thinks  that  the  letters  of  the  al 
phabet,  taken  in  their  order,  represented  nu- 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  I  I 

merical  values,  as  follows,  units,  tens  and 
hundreds  up  to  400;  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10, 
20,  30,  40,  50,  60,  70,  80,  90,  100,  200,  300,  400 ; 
that  the  five  terminal  letters  supplied  the  num- 
bers representing  the  even  hundreds,  from  500 
to  900  inclusive  ;  and  that  the  thousands  were 
represented  by  affixing  marks  or  points  to 
those  representing  units,  etc. 

Two  sorts  of  mistakes  might  easily  creep  in ; 
one  letter  might  be  mistaken  for  another  of 
different  value ;  or  discrepancies  might  be  in- 
troduced where  the  attempt  was  made  to  sub- 
stitute the  full  word  for  the  letter.  There  is 
scarcely  a  case  in  which  copyists  are  believed 
to  have  made  any  intentional  change  in  the 
original  text.  In  one  case,  where  the  name 
Manasseh  appears  instead  of  Moses,  some  have 
thought  that  some  officious  scribe  made  the 
substitution  to  save  the  disgrace,  to  the  great 
Jewish  Lawgiver,  of  recording  the  idolatry  of 
his  grandson  (Judges  xviii.  30). 

II.  Errors  in  PuncHiation. 

In  the  original  manuscripts  there  were 
probably  no  punctuation  marks.  In  fact 
some  manuscripts  were  ctcrsive,  i.  e.  the 
words  were  run  together  with  no  space  be- 
tween them.  The  translators  have  intro- 
duced punctuation    marks,  to  make  the 


12  yrUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

sense  obvious ;  and,  for  convenience, 
division  into  chapters  and  verses.  Of 
course  all  this  belongs  to  the  human,  un- 
inspired, and  therefore  fallible  element 
in  the  Modern  Bible,  and  no  objections, 
drawn  from  punctuation  marks,  or  these 
arbitrary  divisions,  really  lie  against  the 
Inspired  Word  of  God,  itself. 

There  are  not  a  few  instances  in  which  this 
punctuation  may  have  introduced  at  least  a 
very  doubtful  sense  or  construction.  A  few 
examples  may  be  given. 

John  xii.  27.  "  What  shall  I  say  ?  Father, 
save  me  from  this  hour:  but  for  this  cause 
came  I  unto  this  hour."  By  substituting  an 
interrogation  point  for  the  colon,  after  the 
word  '  hour,'  the  sense  is  made  much  more 
clear. 

Luke  xiii.  24,  25.  Omitting  the  period  after 
the  word  *  able,'  or  substituting  a  comma,  we 
are  taught  that  the  risk  lies  in  seeking  to  enter 
when  it  is  too  late.     Compare   Matthew  xxv. 

I-IO. 

Psalm  cix.  6  to  19  inclusive.  If  these  verses 
are  put  in  quotation  marks,  as  the  *  words 
of  hatred,' which,  'with  a  lying  tongue,' the 
*  adversaries '  of  David  'speak  against  him,* 
this  Psalm  is  made  no  longer  his  imprecation 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  1 3 

of  curses  on  their  heads,  but  his  appeal  to  God 
in  reply  to  their  maledictions.  Then  the  sud- 
den change  from  the  plural  to  the  singular 
number,  in  verse  6  and  following,  is  explained, 
and  both  the  introductory  and  closing  verses 
acquire  a  new  and  beautiful  significance.  Com- 
pare especially  verses  28  to  31  with  1-3. 

Examples  of  at  least  doubtful  division,  where 
the  sense  is  very  seriously  interrupted  or  ob- 
scured, might  be  multiplied.  A  few  will  suf- 
fice. 

I  Corinthians  xii.  31.  There  should  here  be 
no  division  of  chapters.  The  ''  more  excellent 
way,"  which  Paul  shows,  is  the  cultivation  of 
Love;  and  a  colon  after  the  word  'way,' 
should  be  the  only  interruption  to  the  sense. 
To  introduce  a  new  chapter  breaks  all  con- 
tinuity. 

The  connection  between  Chapters  II.  and 
III.  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  similarly 
intimate ;  and  the  argument  is  perfect  only  as 
the  break  is  avoided.  ''  For  this  cause  "  refers 
back  to  the  truth  set  forth  in  the  previous 
Chapter.  Compare  also  Hebrews  iii.  14.  The 
word  '  therefore,'  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
Chapter,  depends  tipon  the  sentiment  immedi- 
ately preceding.     So  xi.,  xii. 

III.  Errors  in  Amplificatio7i. 

As  translators  have  supplied  punctua- 


14  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

tion  points,  so  they  have  supplied  words 
and  phrases,  to  complete  the  sense  or 
make  the  meaning  obvious.  As  is  well 
known,  these  supplied  words  are  always 
indicated  by  the  use  of  italics.  The  ignor- 
ant reader  sometimes  supposes  that  itali- 
cized words  represent  the  emphatic  words, 
and  is  perhaps  betrayed  into  the  error  of 
the  simple  minded  '  Dunkerd' preacher, 
who  gravely  read  i  Kings  xiii.  27,  thus: 
*'  And  he  spake  unto  his  sons,  saying, 
Saddle  me  the  ass.  And  they  saddled 
him  I " 

As  to  these  italicized  words,  it  has 
been  seriously  questioned  whether  they 
are,  in  any  case,  needful,  helpful  ox  jttsti- 
fiable.  Where  the  original  demands  or 
implies  them,  they  need  not  be  italicized, 
since  they  are  not  really  'supplied' 
words  ;  where  the  original  does  not  so 
justify  them,  to  introduce  them  may 
sometimes  be  to  introdiice  7iotions  foreign 
to  the  mcaniiig  of  the  Word  and  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit ;  and  may  therefore  be  un- 
warrantable tampering  with  the  Inspired 
Word    of    God.     At    the  very  least,  we 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  I  5 

must  remember  that  all  italicised  words 
belong,  like  punctuation  points  and  chap- 
ter-and-verse  divisions,  to  the  fallible  ele- 
ment, and  therefore  can  never  become 
the  basis  of  objection  to  anything  but 
the  work  of  translators. 

We  append  a  few  examples  of  supplied 
words.  By  reading  the  passages  and  omitting 
these  itaHcized  phrases,  another  meaning  will 
often  at  once  appear,  and  also  a  much  clearer 
sense.  In  the  examples  given  we  omit  the 
suppHed  words. 

Matthew  xx.  23.  "■  But  to  sit  on  my  right 
hand  and  on  my  left  is  not  mine  to  give,  but 
for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  my  Father." 
So  read,  Christ  does  not  limit  his  own 
power  to  give  the  chief  places,  save  that  it 
must  be  exercised  in  union  with  the 
Father. 

John  iii.  34.  ''  For  God  giveth  not  the 
Spirit  by  measure  " — doling  out  the  supply  as 
if  his  resources  were  limited. 

John  viii.  6.  '*  But  Jesus  stooped  down, 
and  with  his  finger  wrote  on  the  ground."  In 
Syria  and  the  East,  to  this  day,  writing  with 
the  finger  in  the  sand  is  a  common  method  of 
teaching,  as  with  us  the  slate  and  blackboard 
are    used.      It    introduces    a    possiby   unwar- 


1 6  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

ranted  conception,  to  add,  *'  as  though  he  heard 
them  notr 

James  i.  25.  ''Whoso  looketh  into  the  per- 
fect law  of  liberty  and  continueth."  The 
figure  is  that  of  a  mirror,  and  the  word  '  con- 
tinucth '  may  refer  to  the  looking.  We  must 
not  simply  glafice  but  gaze  at  ourselves  as  seen 
in  that  law,  continue  looking  so  that  the  im- 
pression may  be  permanent. 

Psalm  xxii.  i,  3,  u,  etc.  Bishop  Alexander 
calls  this  prophetic  poem  of  the  Crucified,  a 
'Psalm  OV  Sobs.'  It  represents  the  vicarious 
sufferer  as  in  dying  agonies,  able  only  to  artic- 
ulate a  few  words  at  a  time :  and  the  frag- 
mentary character  of  the  utterances  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  plaint. 
To  supply  words,  and  so  make  every  sentence 
complete,  interferes  with  the  impression  which 
the  Spirit  would  convey.  How  much  more 
pathetically  majestic  if  translated  literally ! 

"  My  God  !    My  God  ! 
Why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me ! 
Far  from  helping  me  ! — 
Words  of  my  roaring !  " — 
etc. 


We  have  no  space  for  multiplying  examples; 
but  refer  the  reader  to  a   few  additional  cases 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  17 

where  the  omission  of  the  supph'ed  words  will 
suggest  a  new  and  often  higher  sense. 

Deut.  xxxii.  35. 

Psalm  X.  4 ;  xiv.  i  ;  1.  8  ;  li.  12. 

Proverbs  xxvii.  19. 

Isaiah  xxvi.  19. 

Malachi  iii.  10.  ''  Until  failure  of  enough," 
1.  e.  until  the  supply  fails  ! 

Mark  xvi.  20. 

John  XX.  II. 

Hebrews  xi.  21. 

2  Peter  iii.  17. 

IV.  Difficulties  hicidentto  Translation. 

In  all  human  language  necessary  im- 
perfection inheres ;  and  yet  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  compelled  either  to  invent  a 
new  nomenclature  which  would  have  been 
unintelligible  to  man,  or  else  to  use  that 
imperfect  medium  with  which  he  is  famil- 
iar. So  far  as  language  is  merely  the 
mould  of  thought,  or  thought  is  the  mould 
of  language,  the  two  must  correspond  : 
and  we  shall  find  things,  divine  and  spirit- 
ual, inadequately  conveyed  by  human 
words,  and  in  some  cases  absolutely  no 
word  will  be  found  fit  to  be  the  vehicle  or 
mould  of  a  divine  conception. 


1 8  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

From  this  general  source  proceed  a 
great  variety  of  infelicities,  inaccuracies, 
and  even  apparent  contradictions,  that 
are  purely  linguistic  and  verbal. 

1.  Material  terms  are  necessarily  em- 
ployed to  express  immaterial  things  :  the 
spiritual  is  cramped  and  confined  by  the 
carnal  wrappings. 

The  word  '  spirit '  from  spiro,  I  breathe, 
means,  in  its  Hebrew  and  Greek  equivalents, 
hterally  wind  or  breath.  To  infer  that  the 
spirit  of  man  or  of  God  is  simply  breath,  would 
be  to  limit  a  divine  conception  by  the  narrow  lit- 
eralism of  the  best  word  that  human  language 
can  furnish  to  convey  the  thought. 

When  Jewish  writers  speak  of  the  "  tongue 
of  events,"  meaning  thereby  God's  acts  trans- 
lated into  the  language  of  historical  occurrences, 
no  one  misunderstands  the  phrase. 

2.  Figurative  terms  are  also  necessarily 
employed,  but  must  not  be  literally  con- 
strued. 

The  Oriental  habit  of  mind  is  peculiarly 
luxuriant  and  imaginative.  Eastern  idioms 
abound  in  bold  and  striking  metaphors  and 
even  hyperbole.     **  To  construct  dogmas  out 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  IQ 

of  such  materials,  would  be  like  attempting  to 
build  a  palace  out  of  sunbeams  and  rainbows." 
As  Prof.  Park  says,  there  is  manifestly  a  wide 
gap  between  oriental  minstrelsy  and  occiden- 
tal logic. 

3.  Much  language,  applied  to  God,  is 
really  applicable  only  to  man,  is  Anthro- 
povioj'p/nc,  and  Aiithropopathic,  i.  e. , 
drawn  from  the  human  form  and  passions. 

When  we  read  of  the  '  Fingers  of  God,'  with 
which  He  wrote  on  the  Tables  of  Stone  ;  the 
'Feet  of  God,'  which  rest  on  the  earth  as  His 
footstool;  the  'Eyes'  and  'Eyelids  of  God,' 
which  '  behold  '  and  '  try '  the  children  of  men  ; 
of  the  '  Nostrils  of  God,'  into  which  the  sweet 
incense  of  worship  ascends,  etc. ,  these  terms 
are  Anthropomorphic  and  must  be  so  under- 
stood. 

Isa.  iii.  13.  The  Lord  standeth  up  to 
plead. 

Joel  iii.  12.  There  will  I  sit  to  judge  all 
the  heathen. 

It  would  seem  incredible  that  any  one,  even 
a  caviller,  could  call  such  statements  'dis- 
crepancies.' This  is  an  example  of  the  uncan- 
dor  and  unfairness  of  much  so-called  *  criticism.' 
Such  language  is  simply  drawn  from  the  habits 
of  Oriental  courts,  where  advocates  stand  up 


20  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

to  plcad^  and  judges  sit  doivji  to  pronounce 
sentence.  God  is  likewise  said  to  **  Come 
down,"  when  He  interposes  in  human  affairs, 
which  belong  to  a  subordinate  sphere  :  and 
such  terms  as  '*  ascend  "  and  "■  descend  "  are 
often  used  with  reference  to  the  comparative 
elevation  of  the  subjects  and  objects  to  which 
the  attention  is  turned. 

Most  words  are  tropes,  concealing  a  figure. 
Contradictions  frequently  disappear,  as  soon 
as  we  cease  to  insist  on  an  absurd  literalism. 

Invisible  things  may  be  clearly  seeji  ; 
(Rom.  i.  20)  and  we  may  look  at  what  is 
unsee7i.     (2  Cor.  iv.  18.) 

4.  Metaphors  are  often  mixedy  because 
one  figure  does  not  suffice  to  express  the 
full  meaning. 

Ps.  xviii.  I,  2.  David  calls  the  Lord, 
his  "  strength,  rock,  fortress,  deliverer,  buckler, 
horn  and  high  tower."  Here  are  at  least 
seven  different  metaphors.  The  inconsistency 
is  rhetorical  but  not  real :  in  fact  there  is 
sublimity  in  the  very  mixture.  Peter  says 
"  stablish,  strengthen,  settle  you,"  and  Paul 
says,  ''  rooted  and  grounded  in  love."  One 
expression  being  inadequate,  the  writer  leaps 
at  once  to  another,  that  the  combination  may 
convey  what  neither  would  alone. 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  21 

5.  Lang7iagc  of  Appearance  is  close  akin 
to  figurative  terms,  and  is  always  allow- 
able. 

When  the  sun  is  represented  as  '  rising '  or 
'setting;'  or  the  dew  as  'distilling'  and  'de- 
scending from  heaven,'  we  are  not  warranted 
either  in  construing  these  terms  literally,  or  in 
objecting  to  them  because  of  scientific  inac- 
curacy. In  this  scientific  age  we  use  such 
terms  while  conceding  their  inexactness,  be- 
cause they  describe  appearances  and  belong  to 
the  popular  idiom. 

6.  Various  renderings  of  the  same 
original  word,  lead  to  inevitable  confu- 
sion. 

John  XV.  4,  9,  II,  one  Greek  word  (/ifvw)  is 
variously  translated,  abide,  remain,  continue, 
etc. 

I  Cor.  ii.  15,  the  same  Greek  word  avaKfuvErat 
is  translated  discern,  and  judge. 

7.  Words  are  sometimes  invested  by 
the  reader  with  a  wrong  se?ise. 

*^  God  \s  angry  with  the  wicked."  Ps.  vii. 
II. 

He  is  the  **  A^'Oigrr  "  of  evil,    i  Thess.  iv.  6. 

Wrath  is  ascribed  even  to  the  "  Lamb." 
Rev.  vi.   16. 


22  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

These  and  similar  terms  are  to  be  used  and 
understood  in  a  higher  sense  than  the  ordinary 
one.  Anger  is  not,  in  itself,  a  sin :  in  fact, 
without  holy  indignation,  there  is  no  perfectly 
holy  character.  The  verbs,  *  avenge  *  and 
^  revenge^'  and  the  corresponding  nouns,  '  7'^«- 
gemice  and  *  revenge^'  mean  different  things  :  the 
former  verb  and  noun  refer  to  a  public  gov- 
ernmental, judicial  act,  which  is  necessary  to 
the  upholding  of  law ;  [Jer.  li.  56J  while 
'  revenge  '  refers  generally  to  a  private,  personal 
act  of  retaliation.  There  is  a  manifest  and 
broad  distinction  between  a  ruler  calmly  re- 
quiting or  recompensing  evil,  for  public  good, 
and  an  injured  party  passionately  returning  evil 
for  evil,  for  private  gratification.  God  is 
never  vindictive  but  always  vindicative,  i.  e. 
He  vindicates  law.  ''  Odit  errores,  amat  er- 
rantesT  When  wrath  is  ascribed  to  Him,  we 
are  to  remember  it  is  holy  wrath  and  so  a  part 
of  His  infinite  perfections.  A  magnetic  needle 
has  polarity,  and  by  the  same  law  it  attracts 
and  repels  at  the  same  pole.  Benevolence  is 
an  attribute  whose  two  poles  are.  Love  and 
Wrath.  By  the  same  principle,  God  both  loves 
holiness  and  hates  sin  ;  and,  because  He  is 
capable  of  holy  complacence  toward  the  good, 
must  be  capable  of  holy  repulsion  toward  evil. 

The  word,  '  hate  '  is  often  used  of  a  lesser 
love.     Compare  Rom.  ix.  13.     Luke  xiv.  26. 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  23 

*' God  Jiardoicd  Pharaoh's  heart."  Exod. 
ix.  12.  This  implies  in  God  no  compHcity 
with  evil.  He  withdrew  softening  influences 
which  were  abused.  Nay  more  :  the  same 
sun  melts  the  wax,  and  bakes  and  cakes  the 
clay;  and  so  the  same  influences  which  soften 
and  subdue  the  obedient,  harden  the  rebellious. 
Pharaoh's  wilfulness  naturally  produced  the 
same  effect  as  did  God's  judicial  infliction. 
Compare  Exod.  viii.   15,  32. 

In  the  narrative  about  David  and  the  Am- 
monites, etc.,  in  2  Sam.  xii.  31,  it  is  said 
he  '^ put  them  imdcr  saws,  harrows,  axes,"  and 
"  made  them  pass  tlirough  the  brick-kiln." 
Sceptics  unwarrantably  construe  this  subjection 
oftJie  people  to  certain  forms  of  labor ^  as  though 
it  were  meant  that  David  cut  them  in  pieces  or 
burned  them  alive.  In  i  Chron.  xx.  3,  the 
word  "  cut,''  is  probably  a  mistake.  A  Hebrew 
word,  as  much  like  the  other  as  '  cut '  is  like 
'put,' and  even  more  like  it,  is  accidentally  mis- 
taken for  it.     {Vayyasdr  for  vayyasem^ 

Paul  says,  "concerning  virgins  I  have  no 
commandment  of  the  Lord.''  I  Cor.  vii.  25. 
Are  we  to  understand  him  as  disclaiming 
inspired  guidance  in  the  case?  or  does  he 
simply  mean  that  whereas,  in  counsels  to  the 
married,  he  has  referred  them  to  an  express  re- 
corded commandment  of  the  Lord,  Mai.  ii. 
14-16,  Matt.  xix.  6,  9  ;  in  this  case  there    is 


24  STUMBLING  STONES  Kli MOVED 

no  such  ivriitoi  coniinandDioit  to  Avliich  to 
appeal?  Compare  i  Cor.  vii.  6,  lo.  When 
he  says,  '*  I  think  also  that  I  have  the  Spirit  of 
God,"  I  Cor.  vii.  40,  it  might  be  rendered,  I 
think  that  I  also  have  the  Spirit  (^ayw),  i.  e.  as 
well  as  others  who  claim  to  be  your  teachers, 
and  are  not  inspired  apostles.*  So  understood, 
instead  of  disclaiming  inspiration,  he  rather 
affirms  with  peculiar  emphasis  the  apostolic 
warrant  for  his  instruction. 

The  Israelites  borrowed  of  the  Egyptians, 
Exod.  xii.  35.  *'  Borrowed  "  probably  means 
*  demanded,'  as  the  price  of  departure. 

"  The  bears  tare  forty  and  two  of  them," 
2  Kings  ii.  24. 

It  is  not  said  that  they  killed  2,\\y  of  them. 

Abraham  was  commanded  to  ''offer''  Isaac 
for  a  burnt  offering.     Gen.  xxii.  2. 

It  is  not  said,  anywhere,  that  God  com- 
manded him  to  slay  his  son,  though  the  father 
so  interpreted  it.  God  intended  that  he  should 
prese7it  Isaac  as  an  offering,  and  that  is  what  he 
did.  It  is  probably  part  of  the  inspired  per- 
fection of  the  Scriptures  that  words  are  used 
with  such  discrimination  ;  and  it  is  therefore 
the  duty  of  every  reader  to  note  exactly  what 
is  saidj  lest  he  carelessly  introduce  a  conception, 
foreign  to  the  real  narrative. 

*J.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D. 


FROM  rilE  WORD  OF  GOD.  2$ 

VI.  Errors  of  Interpretation. 

Where  no  fault  can  reasonably  be  found 
with  either  the  original  or  the  translation,  the 
reader  s  viisappreJiension  may  cause  difficulty. 
We  must  therefore  learn  to  interpret  the 
language  of  the  Bible  intelligently  and  cor- 
rectly.    Several  facts  arc  to  be  borne  in  mind. 

1.  Words  often  cJiange  vieaning,  and 
arc  liable  to  be  misunderstood. 

*  Prevent '  means  to  go  before,  or  anticipate. 

1  Thess.  iv.  15. 

*  Let '   means   not    to    let,  i.   e.   to    hinder. 

2  Thcss.  ii.  7. 

*  Conversation  '  means  course  of  life.  Heb. 
xiii.  5. 

2.  The  same  worei  is  used  in  different 
seiises. 

Compare  Exod.  xxxi.  17,  with  Isa.  xl.  28. 
Though  God  "  fainteth  not  neither  is  weary," 
yet  "He  rested  and  was  refreshed."  'Rest' 
sometimes  means  repose  after  fatiguing  labor, 
or,  as  in  this  case,  cessation  from  activity,  the 
arresting  of  work. 

Adam  was  said  to  '  hide,'  and  Jonah  to 
'Jlee,'  from  'the  Presence  of  the  Lord.*  Yet 
wc  are  taught  that   to  flee  or  to  hide  from  His 


26  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

presence  is  impossible.  Ps.  cxxxix.  7.  There 
is  an  omni-prcscnce  of  God  which  equally  per- 
vades all  space  ;  but  there  is  a  manifested  Pres- 
ence, such  as,  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  or  in 
the  Sanctuary  of  old,  was  often  visible  and 
audible.  We  are  told  that  God  "  was  not  in 
the  wind,"  the  '' earthquake  "  or  the  ''fire;" 
but  the  meaning  is  that  He  was  not  specially 
and  personally  manifested  in  these  forms,  as 
He  was  in  the  *'  still  small  voice  "  which  fol- 
lowed them.     I  Kings  xix.  11,  12. 

The  word  '^  covet''  is  used  in  Exod.  xx.  17, 
of  unlawful  desire  after  that  which  is  another's  ; 
in  I  Cor.  xii.  31,  of  a  holy  yearning  to  possess 
that  which  will  benefit  another. 

*'  Christ  was  made  sin  for  us,"  though  He 
"knew  no  sin,"  2  Cor.  v.  21,  i.  e.  He  was 
made  a  sin-offering,  accounted  judicially  as  a 
sinner. 

''  Tempt''  may  mean  to  put  to  proof,  to 
test :  or  to  entice  to  sin.  Compare  Gen.  xxii. 
I,  Deut.  vi.  16,  and  Jas.  i.  13. 

^^  Cleave"  may  mean,  to  cling  to,  or  to  part 
from,  another.     Rom.  xii.  9.     Zech.  xiv.  4. 

^^ Devoted"  means  consecrated  to  holy  uses, 
or,  sometimes,  doomed,  to  destruction. 

The  verb  '^  have"  is  used  in  Matt.  xiii.  12, 
both  of  nominal  and  of  real  possession.  Mr. 
Haley  cites  a  couplet  from  Drydcn's  Jiivcfial, 
in  illustration  of  a  like  usage : 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  2/ 

"Tis  true  poor  Codrus  nothing  had,  to  boast; 
And  yet  poor  Codrus  all  that  nothing  lost." 


To  ''seek  early''  may  also  mean  to  seek 
earnestly.     Compare  Prov.  i.  28,  viii.  17. 

In  one  case  the  earnestness  of  the  pious 
youth,  and  in  the  other  of  the  despairing  and 
hardened  sinner,  is  referred  to:  a  holy  longing 
after  God's  favor  is  contrasted  with  a  desperate 
effort  to  evade  sin's  penalty  and  God's  judg- 
ment. 

The  word  "■  eviV  may  mean  perverse,  in- 
iquitous, or  merely  adverse,  calamitous. 

''Jealousy'''  sometimes  represents  "the  rage 
of  man  "  a  mean,  malicious  suspicion  ;  and, 
again,  a  holy  affection  which  by  its  nature 
admits  no  rivalry.  God  is  said  to  be  "jealous  " 
because  He  can  allow  no  other  object  to  share 
His  people's  devotion,  without  sanctioning 
idolatry. 

The  phrase  "the  righteousness  of  saints" 
sometimes  seems  to  refer  to  justification ;  at 
other  times  to  sanctification  ;  and  at  others  to 
resurrection  life.  It  is  of  great  importance 
that  we  learn  to  discriminate  between  these 
three.  Justification  is  a  divine  act,  imputing 
to  us  a  righteousness  complete  but  ?iot  inherent, 
Sanctification  is  a  divine  work,  imparting  to  us 
a  righteousness  inherent  but  not  complete.  Res- 
urrection  life    implies   a   finished  work,  when 


28  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

our  righteousness  is   both   inherent   and   com- 
plete. 

3.  Words  are  used  both  in  an  absolute, 
and  in  a  relative  sense. 

God  who"  changes  not,"  is  said  to  ''repent." 
There  is  no  contradiction.  It  is  because  He 
absokitely  changes  not,  that  He  relatively 
changes.  If  a  movable  body  revolves  about 
a  fixed  object,  their  relative  positions  are  con- 
stantly changing  :  if  both  were  moving,  their 
relative  positions  might  remain  the  same. 
When  a  man  who  has  been  turned  from  God 
turns  toward  Him,  God  is  in  effect  turned  also 
toward  the  man,  though  in  fact  there  has  been 
in  God  Himself  no  change.  The  attitude  of  the 
sinner  relatively  affects  the  attitude  of  God. 
We  say,  "  the  sun  shines  "  or  *'  docs  not  shine," 
when  in  fact  it  always  shines  ;  but  the  position 
of  the  earth,  or  the  interposition  of  the  clouds, 
intercepts  its  rays. 

Christ  says  '*  my  Father  is  greater  than  I  ; " 
yet  He  also  afifirms  "  I  and  my  Father  are 
one ;  "  and  Paul  claims  for  Him  such  equality 
with  God  as  that  the  claim  implies  no  robbery 
of  God.  Compare  Jno.  xiv.  28,  Phil.  ii.  5,  6. 
In  one  case,  Christ  speaks  of  His  relative 
position  as  a  Son^  or  as  ATessiah,  the  Sent  one  : 
in  the  other  His  absolute,  essential  equality  is 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  2g 

referred  to,  as  one  member  of  a  firm,  where  all 
members  are  equal  in  the  property  invested 
and  the  rights  implied,  might  still  disclaim  all 
authority  in  a  certain  department  of  the  busi- 
ness, which  by  mutual  agreement  is  committed 
to  another  partner. 

4.  Words  are  used  sometimes  of  the 
uitcnty  and  again  of  the  effect,  of  an  act  or 
course. 

**  In  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap  coals  of  fire 
on  his  head."  Rom.  xii.  20.  Here  not  the 
design,  but  the  resiilty  of  kindness  to  an  enemy 
is  indicated.  The  silversmith  does  not  per- 
fectly melt  the  metal  until,  in  addition  to  the 
fire  beneath  the  crucible,  he  heaps  the  hot 
coals  on  the  top  of  the  silver.  When  we  heap 
kindness  on  an  enemy's  head,  we  have  him 
between  two  fires  :  the  conscience  of  the  man 
accuses  him,  and  our  tenderness  combines  with 
that  to  melt  him. 

'*  I  came  not  to  send  peace  but  a  sword." 
Matt.  X.  34,  36  ;  i.  e.  though  Christ's  desire  and 
design  are  to  give  peace,  the  effect  of  his  com- 
ing is  to  make  division  and  separation  between 
those  who  serve  God  and  those  who  serve  Him 
not.  We  must  discriminate  between  the  object 
and  the  effect  of  His  mission. 

When  it  is  said  that,  at  Nazareth, ''  He  coiitd 


30  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

do  no  mighty  work  "  (Meirk  vi.  5),  it  is  no  con- 
tradiction of  the  fact  that  "  All  Power"  is  his. 
Matt,  xxviii.  18.  He  chooses  to  be  limited,  in 
His  beneficent  activity,  by  human  unbelief.  He 
could  do  mighty  works  among  those  Naza- 
renes,  only  by  disregarding  the  bounds  which 
He  had  wisely  adopted  for  moral  ends. 

Under  this  same  subdivision  we  may  include 
promises  which  are  in  some  cases  absolute,  and 
in  others  conditional. 

VI.  Freedom  in  the  Use  of  Names, 

1.  Multiplicity  of  names  for  the  same 
person 

Peter  is  also  called  Simon,  Cephas,  Simon 
Bar-Jona,  Simeon,  Simon  Peter,  Simon  son  of 
Jonas.  Joseph  is  also  called  Barsabas  and 
Justus.  Jacob  is  also  Israel.  Edom  is  Esau, 
Gideon  is  Jerubbaal.     Saul  is  Paul. 

2.  Names  of /'^r.f(?;2i'  are  changed  ;  and 
names  of  persons  and  places  are  often 
interchanged.      E.  g.,  Edom. 

In  the  deficiency  of  other  methods  of  re- 
cording and  transmitting  history,  individual 
men  and  women  became  themselves  marks, 
memorials  or  monuments  of  crises  or  turning 
points,  or  new  departures. 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  3 1 

Thus  Abram's  name  was  changed  to  Abra- 
ham,  and  Sarai's  to  Sarah.     Gen.  xvii.  5,  15. 

Jacob's  name  was  changed  for  a  similar 
reason  to  Israel.     Gen.  xxxii.  28. 

Neander's  name  before  conversion  was 
David  iNIendel.  The  change  marks  his  regen- 
eration— the  '  new-man.' 

VII.  In  luriting  number s^  oriental 
usage  was  often  singular. 

1.  In  the  expression  of  aggregates. 

Nordheimer  says  :  Hebrew  and  Arabic  al- 
low peculiar  latitude  in  the  use  and  expression 
of  numbers.  Both  languages  allow  one  to 
write  units,  tens,  hundreds,  thousands,  in  suc- 
cession or  in  reverse  order.  Much  obscurity 
at  times  occurs,  as  if  one  should  write,  "  five 
and  twenty  and  two  hundred  and  ten  thou- 
sand." This  might  be  understood  to  mean  an 
aggregate  number  as  small  as  10,  225,  or  as 
large  as  210,  025. 

2.  Round  numbers  were  used  for  con- 
venience, or  in  symbolism.  E.  g.,  a 
week,  called  eight  days.  J  no.  xx.  26. 

VIII.  Difference  of  dates  is  sometimes 
the  source  of  apparent  discrepancy  or 
discordance. 


32  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

The  disagreeing  statements  refer  to  different 
periods.  What  was  once  true  ceases  to  be  at 
a  subsequent  time. 

Compare  Gen.  i.  31,  and  Rom.  viii.  22. 
When  God  first  made  all  things,  he  pronounced 
everything  "  very  good."  After  sin's  blight 
and  curse  came  upon  it,  the  whole  creation 
groaned  and  travailed  in  pain  together. 

IX.  Different  modes  of  reckoning. 

1.  The  civil  and  sacred  years  of  the 
Hebrews  differed. 

Abib,  the  first  month  of  the  sacred  year,  was 
the  seventh  month  of  the  civil  y^2J.  ^Compare 
the  "  old  style  "  and  the  ''new  style,"  eleven 
days  apart. 

2.  Fractio7ial  days  and  years  were 
reckoned  as  whole  ones. 

With  the  Rabbins,  the  very  first  day  of  a 
year  sometimes  stood  for  the  whole  year. — 
Lightfoot.  Parts  of  a  day  were  reckoned  for 
the  whole  :  e.  g. ,  Christ's  '*  three  days"  in  the 
grave,  though  He  appears  to  have  been  in  the 
sepulchre  a  part  of  the  sixth,  the  whole  of  the 
seventh  and  a  part  of  the  eighth. 

X.  History  in  Bible  usage  is  often 
made   stibordinaie   to  prophecy  a7id  sym- 


FROM  TIIE  WORD  OF  GOD. 


33 


boll's VI.  In.  other  words  the  historical 
accuracy  is  of  less  account  than  the  pro- 
phetical or  symbolical  or  ethical  teaching 
which  the  history  expresses  and  embodies. 

E.  g.,  Israel's  history,  as  a  nation,  is  not 
counted  on  the  strict  historical  scale,  but  on  the 
prophetic.  When  God's  ancient  people  re- 
lapsed into  idolatry  and  virtual  apostasy,  and 
were  given  over  into  captivity,  their  normal 
and  prophetic  history  stopped :  they  were  not 
reckoned  as  having  any  history.  Only  when 
such  a  principle  is  understood  and  applied  to 
the  record,  can  we  make  out  the  biblical  com- 
putations of  time,  as  applied  to  this  elect 
nation. 

We  notice  various  cycles  of  490  years,  or 
ten  Jubilees,  which  seem  to  constitute  a  sort 
of  unit  ov  measurement  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  480 years  of  i  Kings  vi.  i,  between  Israel's 
going  forth  and  Solomon's  temple  building,  do 
not  count,  as  a  recent  writer  has  observed, 
the  seven  periods  of  servitude.  The  actual 
time  is  611  years.  Deducting  for  servi- 
tude 131  years,  we  have  480.  Then  add,  for 
building  and  furnishing  the  temple,  10  years, 
and  we  have  490. 

From  that  period  to  the  return  from  Babylon, 
in  the  time  of  Nehemiah,  is  560  years.     Deduct 


34  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

for   captivity,  Jo   years,  and    we  have    again 
490. 

So  the  490  years  in  the  seventy  Hcptades 
of  Dan.  ix.  cannot  be  made  out  accurately, 
unless  we  omit  the  periods  of  interrupted 
fellowship  with  God  and  disobedience  to  His 
will.  In  fact  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  appears 
to  have  interrupted  the  last  "week,"  and  at  least 
half  of  it  seems  to  be  the  prophetical  ''  three 
and  a  half  years,"  ''forty  and  two  months,"  or 
1260  days  of  the  Apocalypse. 

XI.  One  event  or  tricth  or  subject  has 
differeiit  sides  SiVid  aspects.  We  must  get 
the  point  of  view,  and  even  the  plane  of 
thought,  occupied  by  the  sacred  writer  or 
speaker. 

I.  Truth  is  many-sided. 

Every  truth  or  fact  has  at  least  two  faces. 
To  look  at  it  from  one  direction  or  side,  only, 
gives  us  only  a  half  truth,  which,  if  we  consider 
it  the  whole,  is  a  half  error.  Apposite  truths 
are  not  opposites.  There  is  no  antagonism 
between  them,  but  rather  complementism : 
they  are  the  hemispheres  which  together  com- 
plete the  sphere. 

Hence  truths  that  at  first  appear  to  conflict 
may  have  often  the  highest  harmony  and  be 
necessary  to  each  other. 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  35 

Man  is  at  the  same  time  mortal  and  immor- 
tal. He  may  be  buried,  and  yet  it  is  equally 
true  that  he  cannot  be :  or,  as  Socrates  said, 
**  You  may  luiry  vie  if  you  can  catcJi  vic^ 

2.  Character  has  complex  relations. 

Christ  is  at  once  a  lion  and  a  lamb,  Rev.  v. 
5,  6  ;  a  priest  and  victim,  Heb.  viii.  i,  ix.  26-28  ; 
a  shepherd  and  sheep,  Jno.  x.  11,  Acts.  viii.  32  ; 
the  door  to  the  fold  and  the  pastor  to  the  flock, 
Jno.  X.  7.  II. 

3.  Different  experiences  and  conditions 
may  pertain  to  the  same  person.,  at  the 
same  time. 

Christ's  peace  was  the  perfect  peace  of  God, 
even  while  he  sweat  as  it  were  great  drops  of 
blood. 

Dr.  Payson  in  dying  was  both  in  intensest 
agony  and  intensest  ecstasy. 

4.  The  same  siibjcct  may  be  treated 
from  different  points  of  approach  and 
survey,  for  different  ends. 

Thus  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  each 
writing  for  a  different  class  of  readers, — Jews 
Romans,  Greeks,  and  believers  in  general,  will 
each  emphasize  a  different  aspect  of  the  com- 
plex character  of  Jesus. 


36  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

Matthew  lays  stress  on  Him  as  Messiah — 
King  of  the  Jews.  Mark  lays  stress  on  Him 
as  mighty  God,  miracle  worker.  Luke  lays 
stress  on  Him  as  the  Son  of  man.  John  lays 
stress  on  Him  as  the  Son  of  God.  Compare 
the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles ;  one  being 
the  annals  of  the  Kingdom,  the  other  the 
history  of  the  Hierarchy. 

For  similar  reasons,  some  authors  may  fol- 
low the  chronological^  while  others  follow  the 
logical,  order;  others,  without  regard  to  his- 
torical connection  or  sequence,  may  group 
ethical  teachings  together. 

5.  Consequently,  to  avoid  partial  and 
incomplete  views,  we  must  compare  scrip- 
ture  with  scriphtre  until  each  half  truth 
finds  its  complementary  half. 

The  parable  of  the  "Pounds"  and  of  the 
'*  Talents "  must  be  taken  together.  Thus 
combined  they  present  the  whole  law  of  God's 
administration  of  gifts.  Where  gifts  are  equal, 
but  unequally  improved,  the  rewards  are  un- 
qual :  where  gifts  are  unequal,  but  equally 
improved,  the  rewards  are  equal.  Compare 
Luke  xix..  Matt.  xxv. 

In  Luke  xv.,  we  have  not  three  parables, 
but  one  parable  with  three  forms  of  presenta- 
tion.    The   first  and  second   emphasize   God's 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  37 

part  in  recovering  the  lost  sinner ;  the  third 
brings  to  the  front  mans  part  both  in  wander- 
ing and  return. 

Paul  emphasizes/^r?///;  /  James,  works.  There 
is  no  conflict.  Paul  was  rebuking  Pharisaic 
dependence  on  self-righteous  works.  James 
was  contending  against  antinomian  dependence 
on  a  mere  creed.  James  probably  uses  the 
word  "  justify  "  in  the  sense  of  manifesting  or 
proving.  Thus  faith  justifies  the  soul,  works 
justify  the  faith. 

XII.  Condensation  of  narratives  ac- 
counts for  some  incongruities. 

1.  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  or  because 
a  specific  purpose,  which  is  controlling, 
demands  only  the  salient  points  of  a 
narrative,  a  few  characteristic  features 
are  presented  and  the  account  is  fragmen- 
tary. Were  all  the  missing  links  fur- 
nished, no  real  difficulty  would  remain. 

2.  The  Imagination  or  hasty  inference 
of  critics  may  often  supply  an  incongru- 
ous link  where  God  has  left  an  unfilled 
vacancy. 

Some  professedly  religious  teachers  have 
shocked  the  sensibilities  of  all  true  and  rever- 
ent   believers    by    using  such    phrases    as    the 


38  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

"  errors,"  ''  mistakes  "  and  even  ''  immoralities  " 
of  scripture. 

For  example,  Exod.  xxi.  24,  "  An  eye  for  an 
eye,"  etc. ,  is  adduced  as  a  scriptural  sanction, 
justifying  private  revenge  and  retaliation  of 
injuries.  But  who  is  authorized  to  say  that 
this  authorizes  the  exaction  of  private  and 
personal  vengeance  ?  May  it  not  be  the  law 
by  which  the  judges  were  guided  in  the  judi- 
cial mfliction  of  penalty!  The  brief  narrative 
leaves  many  gaps  to  be  supplied.  In  Patri- 
archal times,  with  imperfect  legislation  and 
government,  such  penalties  may  have  been  the 
most  salutary  preventives  of  acts  of  violence, 
and  especially  of  maiming. 

XIII.  Differ^ent  events  or  persons  may  he 
conf^ised  on  account  of  similar  feahires. 

On  a  larger  or  smaller  scale,  history  is  con- 
stantly repeating  itself.  Abram  twice  equiv- 
ocated concerning  Sarah  ;  Isaac  imitated  his 
father's  example,  in  the  case  of  Rebekah.  David 
twice  and  in  very  similar  circumstances  spared 
Saul's  life,  etc. 

There  were,  in  modern  times,  two  Jonathan 
Edwards,  father  and  son.  Both  were  grand- 
sons of  clergymen  and,  themselves,  clergymen. 
Both  were  pious  and  precocious  youths,  fa- 
mous scholars,  and  tutors  for  equal  periods  in 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  39 

their  respective  colleges.  Both  succeeded,  in 
their  respective  charges,  their  maternal  grand- 
fathers, were  dismissed  on  account  of  peculiar 
religious  opinions  ;  were  again  settled  over  con- 
gregations singularly  attached  to  them,  and 
employed  leisure  hours  in  favorite  studies,  and 
in  preparation,  for  publication,  of  works  of 
value.  Both  left  their  parishes  for  college 
presidencies,  and  died  shortly  after  inaugura- 
tion, with  but  one  year's  difference  in  their 
respective  ages,  one  being  fifty-six,  the  other 
fifty-seven;  and  both,  on  the  first  sabbath  of  the 
fatal  year,  preached  from  the  same  text,  ''  This 
year  thou  shalt  surely  die."     (Haley,  p.  27). 

Modern  critics  who  seek  to  prove  that  simi- 
lar biblical  narratives  are  a  confusion  of  his- 
torical facts,  and  refer  to  the  same  person  or 
event,  can  in  no  case  adduce  by  comparison  of 
scriptural  accounts  any  parallel  to  the  coinci- 
dent features  of  these  two  remarkably  similar 
lives  and  careers.  And  were  the  methods  of 
the  *'  Higher  Criticism  "  adopted  in  this  case, 
some  may  yet  arise  who  will  seek  to  prove 
that  there  was  after  all  but  one  Jonathan 
Edwards ! 


XIV.  Special  laws  or  principles  apply 
to  the  Interpretation  of  Prophecy. 

Prophecy  is  the  langzcage  of  the  fnture. 


40  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  as  we  look 
ahead,  in  a  direct  line,  certain  optical 
illusions  are  the  result  : 

First,  Perspective :  objects  at  different 
distances  are  seen  in  one  limited  field  of 
vision  and  lying  within  the  same  narrow 
arc. 

Secondly,  Fore  short  eating  :  objects,  far 
separated  from  us  and  from  each  other, 
appear  near  and  closely  related  ;  what  is 
stretched  out  over  vast  length,  is  seen 
shortened — hence  the  term  ''  foreshorten- 
ing," to  express  the  apparent  shortening 
from  the  fore-view.  Only  by  experience 
does  the  mind  learn  to  detect  and  cor- 
rect the  errors  of  the  eye.  Similar 
illusions  pertain  to  the  careless  reading 
of  prophecy. 

I.  In  prophecy  we  often  see  two  or 
more  events  of  a  similar  character  out- 
lined by  a  common  profile.  One  outline 
properly  portrays  two  events,  one  on 
a  smaller,  and  the  other  on  a  larger  scale  ; 
one  nearer,  the  other  more  remote. 

E.  g.,  Matt.  xxiv.  where  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  is  the  type  of  the  End  of  the  Age, 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  41 

and  prophecies  concerning  both  are  closely 
intertwined  because  one  general  profile  answers 
for  both. 

2.  Events  may  appear  in  a  common 
field  of  vision,  all  of  which  are  future, 
which  and,  as  they  occur,  will  be  seen  to 
be  marked  by  many  distinct  and  distin- 
o-uishinor  features. 

o  o 

3.  Future  events,  far  separated  in 
point  of  time,  may  be  so  mingled  on  the 
horizon  of  prophecy,  as  to  appear,  like 
mountains  in  a  range,  near  to  each  other. 

4.  History  may  be  communicated  pro- 
phetically, i.  e.  by  a  backward  instead  of 
a  forward  vision. 

Hugh  Miller  believed  that  the  six  days  of 
creation  were  revealed  to  Moses  after  some 
such  manner,  as  a  series  of  spectacular  or 
dramatic  scenes,  to  be  interpreted  after  the 
manner  of  prophecy. 

XV.  There  Is  a  Progress  in  Rev  elation  y 
from  Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse. 

I.  Things,  veiled  at  first,  even  when 
revealed  in  form,  were  afterward  fully 
unveiled   as   revelation   became    clearer. 


42  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

This  is  the  force  of  the  word,  "mystery," 
in  the  New  Testament. 

And  here  we  may  possibly  find  the  key  to 
many  so-called  discrepancies. 

E.  g.,  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament 
Hebrew  or  the  Septuagint,  or  Greek  Alexan- 
drian version,  are  found  in  the  New  Testament 
in  a  modified  form.  Sometimes  the  New 
Testament  writers,  and  even  our  Lord,  have 
been  charged  with  "  inaccuracies." 

These  verbal  changes  have  been  explained 
by  some,  on  the  theory  that  the  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  extends  not  to  the  ''  words,  but  to  the 
concept,"  or  thought ;  or  that  New  Testament 
writers  take  liberties  with  scripture  and  modify 
their  quotations  as  modern  authors  might,  in 
citing  passages  from  Shakespeare  or  Milton. 
Such  '  explanations  '  are  too  loose  and  only 
increase  our  embarrassment.  We  venture  to 
suggest  a  more  reverent  method  of  accounting 
for  such  changes,  viz. :  that,  where  New  Testa- 
ament  authors,  in  quoting,  adopt  the  Sep- 
tuagint version  or  change  the  exact  language  of 
the  original  Hebrew,  the  Spirit  guided  them 
so  to  do,  in  order  to  bring  more  clearly  to  view 
the  inspired  meaning  of  sacred  words. 

Oftentimes  a  reason  may  be  discovered  for 
such  modification.  In  Heb.  xi.  40,  i  Pet.  i. 
II,  12,  etc.,  we  are  taught  that  Old  Testament 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  43 

writers  themselves  wrote  much  that  they  did 
not  themselves  understand,  and  that  was  left 
on  record  for  after  ages  to  interpret.  May  it 
not  be  that,  when  New  Testament  writers  are 
led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  quote  these  words, 
they  are  also  led  in  some  cases  to  modify  them 
so  as  to  throw  upon  the  original  quotation 
the  new  light  of  a  more  perfect  day  ?  Com- 
pare Ps.  xl.  7-8,  with  Heb.  x.  5-10.  Only 
after  our  Lord  became  incarnate,  could  it  be 
understood  Jiozu  He  came  to  do  God's  will  "  in 
a  body  prepared." 

Compare  Isa.  Ixi.  i,  2,  with  Luke  iv.  18,  19. 
Mai.  iii.  I,  with  Mark  i.  2,  ''  before  Thy  face." 

2.  There  is  likewise  a  progressive  revela- 
tion of  7norality. 

The  ethical  standard  of  the  gospel  age  is  far 
in  advance  of  the  Levitical :  and  the  rule  of 
conduct  must  be  graduated  and  estimated  by 
the  fuller,  clearer  revelation  of  duty  and  of  love. 

"  To  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good  and  doeth 
it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin."  Jas.  iv.  17.  "  If  ye 
know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them."     Jno.  xiii.  17. 

**  The  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at." 
Acts  xvii.  30. 

Such  texts  as  these  teach  us  that : 


44  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

The  object  of  knowledge  is  practice ;  and 
The  scope  of  practice  is  knowledge. 

The  rule  of  duty  is  relative  :  '*  To  whom 
much  is  given,  of  him  will  much  be  required  ;  " 
more  light  demands  better  life. 

Patriarchs,  in  practising  polygamy,  decep- 
tion, human  servitude ;  in  inflicting  penalty 
without  legal  process,  etc.,  are  not  to  be  judged 
by  the  New  Testament  principles  not  in  their 
day  clearly  revealed.  Things  but  dimly  seen  if 
at  all  at  dawn,  are  clearly  and  boldly  revealed 
at  noon-day. 

3.  There  Is  particularly  a  Progressive 
Revelation  as  to  mzsszo?is,  or  the  duty  of 
believers  to  the  unsaved  about  them. 

It  is  true  that  the  Bible  is  throughout  a 
missionary  book.  Missions  are  taught  in  the 
Old  Testament,  but  it  is  as  in  a  mirror,  darkly, 
dimly,  enigmatically,  as  truth  is  taught  in 
parables.  Practically  the  old  time  saints  did 
not  conceive  of  God's  people  as  having  an 
aggressive  mission  to  "  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,"  nor  did  they  conceive  of  other  nations 
as  subjects  of  converting  grace.  To  them,  the 
heathen  were  simply  obstacles  to  the  prosperity, 
progress  and  even  existence,  of  the  one  God- 
fearing, elect  people ;    and    even    Peter    the 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  45 

apostle  had  to  Icarn,  by  a  thrice  repeated  vision 
on  the  housetop,  that  the  old  exclusivcness 
must  be  broken  down  before  the  inclusiveness 
of  the  christian  spirit. 

Much  of  the  so  called  '  vindictive  spirit '  of 
the  **  Imprecatory  "  Psalms  and  prophetic  utter- 
ances should  be  interpreted  as  the  breathing  of 
a  holy  jealousy  for  God,  and  a  devout  desire 
to  have  all  foes  of  the  true  faith  destroyed,  or 
at  least  dispersed.     Compare  Ps.  lix.  ii. 


46  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 


PART  II. 

GENERAL     SUGGESTIONS. LAWS     OF     INTER- 
PRETATION,   ETC. 

We  now  add  some  general  remarks, 
intended  to  be  suggestive  especially  as 
to  the  principles  upon  which  biblical 
studies  should  be  pursued ;  and  we  lay 
down  certain  obvious  laws  of  interpreta- 
tion and  canons  of  criticism. 

I.  The  Bible  is  imperial  in  source, 
divine  in  authority,  original  in  contents, 
and  infallible  in  teaching.  But  it  abounds 
in  mysterious  truths,  and  is  often  para- 
doxical iii  state77ient. 

Both  the  mystery  and  the  paradox  are 
necessary  features  of  the  Word  of  God, 
as  the  Book  itself  concedes.  But  it  does 
not  follow  that  what  we  cannot  solve 
is  insoluble  or  absurd.  Deut.  xxix.  29. 
I   Cor.  ii.  1 1. 

II.  Apparent  discrepancies  are  insepar- 
able from  the  Word  of  God. 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  47 

The  iiatuial  universe  abounds  in  inscrutable 
mysteries  and  seemini^  contradictions.  Nature 
is  the  arena  of  perpetual  conflict.  With  all 
the  undeniable  evidences  of  design,  there  are 
occasional  monstrosities  ;  and,  side  by  side  with 
proofs  of  benevolence  in  the  Creator,  there 
arc  gigantic  forms  of  disaster  and  destruc- 
tion. 

So  in  the  Bible.  The  Trinity  and  Unity  of 
Godhead  ;  the  Sovereignty  of  God  and  the 
freedom  of  man  ;  the  Divine  Immutability 
and  the  promises  to  praying  souls  ; — paradoxes 
Hke  these  inhere  in  the  nature  of  God  and  of 
divine  truth,  and  in  the  limited  faculty  and 
knowledge  of  man. 

That  God  ever  began  to  be  is  impossible 
and  inconceivable ;  yet  that  God  had  no 
beginning  is  equally  an  inscrutable  mystery, 
for  how  did  He  ever  reach  the  present  stage  of 
His  existence  !  If  an  Eternity  is  already  passed, 
why  may  not  an  Eternal  future  reach  its  end  ? 
Whoever  attempts  to  think  on  such  themes 
will  soon  learn  that  there  are  limits  to  human 
reason.  The  idea  of  succession  must  not 
enter  into  our  conception  of  Eternity  ;  yet,  of 
duration  without  succession  we  cannot  now 
conceive. 

III.  We  must  settle  the  limits  of  In- 
spiration. 


48  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

Much  of  the  Word  of  God  consists  of  simply 
an  inspired  narrative,  in  which  all  that  Inspira- 
tion covers  or  guarantees  is  the  accuracy  and 
veracity  of  the  record.  This  principle  seems 
to  us  so  obvious,  that,  like  an  axiom,  it  needs 
only  a  statement.  One  may  give  a  most  exact 
and  truthful  account  of  what  has  taken  place, 
while  disapproving  the  whole  transaction 
which  is  recorded.  We  must  therefore  in 
every  case  notice  the  atithorship  and  authority 
of  all  statements  or  sentiments  found  in  the 
sacred  book. 

''''Verbal  Inspiration"  is  to  some  persons  a 
very  obnoxious  term,  but  when  it  is  properly 
understood  we  see  no  ground  of  objection  to 
it.  It  means  only  this,  as  we  use  it :  that  the 
Inspiring  Spirit  guided,  guarded  and  governed 
the  very  latiguage  in  which  God's  thought  was 
expressed  by  holy  men,  who  not  only  thought, 
but  ^^  spake  diS  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Who  is  there  that  holds  every  word  of 
the  Bible  to  be  in  the  same  sense,  inspired  ? 
When  Satan  says,  *'  Ye  shall  not  surely  die  ;  " 
when  Job  and  his  three  friends  discuss  the  pro- 
blem and  philosophyof  evil;  when  the  blind  man, 
whose  eyes  were  opened  by  Christ,  argues  with 
the  Pharisees ;  when,  in  a  word,  the  Bible 
narrates  human  events  or  records  human  utter- 
ances in  which  God  is  not  represented  either  as 
acting   or   speaking  through    man,   inspiration 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  49 

covers  only  the  essential  accuracy  of  the  narra- 
tive. But  when  God  directs  a  course  to  be  pur- 
sued, or  himself  guides  an  utterance,  the 
sanction  of  His  infallible  authority  is  thus  given. 
We  are  not  unduly  jealous  that  '*  degrees  of 
inspiration  "  be  disallowed,  provided  that  the 
lowest  degree  of  inspiration  shall  guard  infal- 
libility. For  without  this  the  Bible  becomes 
simply  the  best  of  books  ;  and  loses  all  its  divine 
character  as  the  final  court  of  appeal — the  Judge 
which,  when  wit  and  wisdom  fail,  ends  the 
strife.  Men  crave,  and  will  have,  a  final 
arbiter. 

We  are  more  and  more  impressed  with  the 
exactness  and  accuracy  of  Scripture.  When, 
for  instance,  Matthew  records  the  direct  ful- 
filment of  a  specific  prediction  he  says:  "that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  tJie  pro- 
phet;'' but  when  he  refers  to  Christ's  hailing  from 
Nazareth,  he  says:  "that  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets,''  (plural) 
"  He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene  " — for  not  in  the 
writings  of  any  one  prophet,  but  rather  in  the 
drift  of  all  prophecy  is  this  forecast  found. 
And  so,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  does  not 
say,  **  then  \\d.<=>  fid  filled  \X\dX  which  was  spoken 
by  the  prophet  Joel ;  "  but,  "  this  is  that  zvhich 
was  spoken  " — for,  although  the  outpouring  of 
Pentecost  finds  its  only  explanatio7i  in  Joel,  the 
fiilfilmeyit  of   that  prophecy  is    yet  to  come, 


50  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

when  the  Spirit,  then  poured  out  on  all  dis- 
ciples, shall  be  "  poured  out  upon  -dW  flcsJiy 

Two  Greek  words  arc  translated  ''  speech," 
"discourse  "  or  ''saying,"  (/oyoc,  p^wa)  yet  only 
07ie  (/.oync)  IS  cvcr  applied  to  Christ.  If  God 
did  not  guide  the  words  used,  why  were  such 
distinctions  so  carefully  preserved  ?  And  this 
is  but  one  case  out  of  hundreds  familiar  to  any 
Bible  student.  There  are  ''  concepts  "  of  God 
which  no  existing  Greek  words  could  express, 
and  a  new  nomenclature  had  to  be  created,  or 
new  meanings  attached  to  formerly  existing 
words.  The  New  Testament  must  have  a 
glossary  of  its  own  ;  for  a  classical  dictionary 
would  not  suffice.  The  more  deeply  we  im- 
merse ourselves  in  the  study  of  the  original 
Scriptures,  the  more  will  the  divine  choice  of 
words  impress  us. 

There  are  certainly  five  passages  of  Scripture 
which  may  be  cited  as  giving  no  uncertain 
sound  on  the  subject  of  ''Verbal  Inspiration." 
(Compare  Heb.  xii.  27,  John  x.  34-36,  Gal. 
iii.  16,  Gal.  iv.  9,  and  John  viii.  58.)  In  the 
first,  the  argument  turns  on  the  significance  of 
a  ^xxi'^Q:  phrase ;  in  the  second,  on  the  inviola- 
bility of  a  single  zvord]  in  the  third,  on  the 
use  of  a  singular,  instead  of  a  plural  niifuber ; 
in  the  fourth,  on  the  passive,  instead  of  the 
active,  voice  of  a  verb  ;  and  in  the  fifth,  on  the 
use  of  the  present,  instead  of  the  past,  tense  of 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  5 1 

the  verb.  Taking  the  five  together,  we  are 
taught  that  "  the  Scripture  must  not  be 
broken,"  so  far  as  to  change  di phrase,  a  wordy 
the  nuiiihcr  of  a  noun,  or  the  voice  or  tense  of  a 
verb.  If  that  is  not  verbal  inspiration — a 
divine  oversight  extending  not  only  to  *'  con- 
cept," but  to  language — our  '' scholarship  "  is 
entirely  at  fault,  and  we  are  glad  that  it  is ! 

Of  course,  no  inspiration  can  be  claimed,  in 
any  such  sense,  for  the  various  translations  or 
versions  of  the  original  Scriptures.  Human 
language  is  but  a  mirror  or  camera,  before 
which  we  place  the  Word  of  God,  to  catch  its 
reflection  or  image.  The  reflection  or  image 
will  be  imperfect,  just  so  far  as  the  mirror,  or 
the  camera,  with  its  lenses  and  sensitive  plates, 
is  imperfect  ;  yet  for  all  practical  purposes, 
these  translations  and  versions  are  as  faithful 
and  accurate  reproductions  as  the  reflected 
image  and  the  photographic  likeness,  which 
are  but  the  ''  counterfeit  presentments  "  of  the 
man,  and  not  the  man  himself ;  and  such  trans- 
lations do  not  seriously  mislead  any  candid 
reader. 

IV.  The  Inspiration  of  Scripture  must 
certainly  secure  inerrancy  and  infallibility; 
otherwise  every  man  is  at  liberty  to 
determine  for  himself  what  he  accepts  or 
rejects. 


5  2  STUMBLING  S  TONES  RE  MO  VED 

Some  who  deny  the  inerrancy  of  Scripture, 
concede  that  these  ''  errors  are  all  in  the  cir- 
cumstantials, and  not  in  the  essentials."  But 
who  shall  decide  what  are  '^  essentials "  and 
what  "circumstantials?"  As  a  huge  door 
turns  upon  a  very  small  hinge,  stupendous 
events  hang  upon  what  is  seemingly  insignifi- 
cant. In  God's  universe  there  are  no  little 
things.  If  we  admit  errors  in  the  original 
Scriptures,  any  modern  Jehudi  may,  with  his 
penknife,  cut  out  from  the  sacred  scroll  what- 
ever he  pleases  ;  and  on  the  *'  authority  "  of 
his  reason,  and  perhaps,  of  his  "  church,"  decide 
that  the  exscinded  part  belongs  not  to  "  essen- 
tials" but  to  ''circumstantials." 

Current  popular  phraseology  which  is  known 
to  be  scientifically  inaccurate,  may  find  its 
way  into  the  Bible  simply  as  a  prevailing 
idiom  of  speech.  It  is  common  to  speak  of  the 
"  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,"  though  every  reader 
of  our  history  knows  that  Breed's  Hill  was  the 
actual  scene  of  the  battle.  The  phrases  "  ris- 
ing and  setting  sun,"  "  dew  descending  "  from 
heaven,  etc.,  though  found  in  the  Word  of 
God,  argue  no  essential  error,  because  these 
current  forms  of  speech, — the  "  language  of 
appearances  " — are  universal  even  where  known 
to  be  scientifically  inaccurate. 

Each  apparent  error  in  the  Word  of  God 
must  be  accounted  for  by  itself.     Many  errors 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  53 

may  be  traced  to  sources  already  indicated,  and 
possibly  some  we  may  not  now  be  able  to 
trace.  But  to  admit  the  principle  that  the 
"scriptures  abound  in  errors,  inaccuracies,  mis- 
takes and  immoralities  "  is  to  destroy  the  value 
of  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God. 

V.  We  must  come  to  the  study  of  the 
Word  of  God  with  clear  a7id  discriminat- 
ing minds. 

1.  Our  tests  must  be  sensible,  rational 
tests. 

In  Heb.  vi.  18,  we  are  told  that  it  is  "  impossi- 
ble for  God  to  lie."  Jkit  again  we  are  told  in 
Matt.  xix.  26,  that  "  with  God  all  things  are 
possible."  There  is  no  contradiction.  It  is  only 
the  silly  caviller  who  cries  out,  "  God  cannot  be 
omnipotent,  because  He  cannot  lie."  This  is 
no  limitation  of  God's  power;  for  power  can  be 
tested  only  within  the  proper  sphere  and  range 
of  power.  The  impossibility  of  God's  lying  is 
not  a  physical  but  a  moral  impossibility,  and 
if  the  same  impossibility  existed  in  some 
cavillers,  such  a  dishonest  objection  and  dis- 
ingenuous argument  would  never  have  been 
brought  forward. 

2.  We  must  use  sanctified  common 
sense. 


54  STUMBLliVG  STONES  REMOVED 

God  knows  all  men,  omniscicntly  ;  yet  He 
says  of  Abraham,  ''  Now,  I  know  that  thou 
fearest  God,"  etc.,  as  though  it  were  a  new 
discovery.  Gen.  xxii.  12.  Here  He  means 
that  He  had  verified,  by  experiment,  Abra- 
ham's faithfulness  ;  it  was  an  eventual  know- 
ing. So  when  God  is  said  to  have  "  remembered 
Noah"  (Gen.  viii.  i),  it  is  not  implied  that 
He  had  ever  forgotten  him ;  but  there  is 
indicated  and  recorded  an  active  remembrance, 
evinced  in  what  He  did  to  bring  Noah  again 
out  of  the  ark  in  safety. 

3.  In  studying  the  Divine  anger  against 
sin,  we  must  beware  of  attributing  to 
God  a  merciless  severity,  because  He 
judicially  destroys  the  ungodly. 

Mercy  to  others  sometimes  makes  severity 
to  offenders  the  only  course  compatible  with 
either  justice  or  love  to  the  universe  at  large. 
Chief  Justice  Hale  said,  "  When  I  am  tempted 
to  be  merciful  to  offenders,  let  me  remember 
that  there  is  also  a  mercy  due  to  my  country." 
Prince  Eugene  never  pardoned  certain  of- 
fenders, whom  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  gen- 
erally dealt  with  leniently.  But  it  was  found 
on  comparison  of  records  that,  with  all  his 
laxity,  the  duke  had  been  compelled  to  hang 
many  more  such    offenders   than    the   prince, 


FROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  5  5 

because  the  duke's  laxity  encouraged  such  to 
hope  for  immunity  from  penalty.  We  must 
beware  of  ujircgencratc  notions  of  benevolence, 

4.  We  must  learn  to  distingruish  be- 
tween what  is  liferal  and  what  is  spirit- 
ual. 

Many  difificulties  arise  from  confusion 
here  :  on  the  one  hand  we  may  literalize 
what  is  to  be  spiritually  interpreted,  or 
we  may  spiritualize  what  is  to  be  literally 
understood. 

For  example,  "Israel,"  "  Zion,"  and  "the 
church"  are  often  used  by  us  as  though  they  were 
equivalent  expressions.  Paul  draws  in  i  Cor.  x. 
32,  a  distinction  which,  if  always  borne  in 
mind,  will  greatly  assist  in  Bible  study:  "  The 
Jews,  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Church  of  God  " 
are  the  three  factors,  never  to  be  confounded 
in  the  study  of  the  Word. 

When  we  are  told  to  "  call  no  man  your 
father  upon  earth"  (INIatt.  xxiii.  9),  to  under- 
stand this  literally  would  be  to  forbid  any 
child  to  address  his  father  as  such  !  When  we 
are  told,  "  swear  not  at  all"  (Matt.  v.  34),  lit- 
erally construed,  this  would  forbid  an  "oath  for 
confirmation"  in  a  court  of  justice.  Paul  writes 
(i  Tim.  vi.  16),  that  God  "  only   hath  immor- 


56  STUMBLING  STONES  KE MOVED 

tality ;  "  does  he  mean  that  the  human  soul, 
the  angels,  and  even  the  Lord  Jesus,  are  not 
immortal  ?  When,  in  Rom.  xvi.  27,  we  read 
of  "  God  only  wise,"  are  we  to  infer  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  a  wise  man  ? 

Annihilationists  argue  from  the  phrase  in 
Ps.  xxxvii.  9,  34,  that  "  evil  doers  shall  be  cut 
off''  (karath),  that  they  are  \x\XQ.x\y  \.o  pcrisJu 
But  this  same  word  is  used  of  Messiah — Dan. 
ix.  26. 

Cardinal  Bellarmine  argued  from  two  texts, 
John  xxi.  16,  "feed  my  sheep,"  and  Acts  x. 
13,  ''rise — kill  and  eat,"  that  the  successors  of 
Peter,  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  have  a  double 
duty — to  feed  true  believers  and  to  kill  heretics. 
Why  did  he  not  go  to  the  full  length  of  his 
literalism,  and  insist  that  the  popes  should 
''  eat  "  the  heretics  they  ''  kill  ?  "  (See  Haley, 
280). 

V.  We  must  discriminate  between  a 
part  and  tJie  zvJiole.  A  part  neither  in- 
cludes nor  excludes  all  the  rest  which 
belongs  to  the  complete  form. 

Take  for  example  the  Inscription  on  the 
Cross.     The  full  form  was  this  : 

''THIS   IS   JESUS   OF   NAZARETH, 
THE   KING    OF    THE   JEWS." 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  57 

Of  these  ten  words,  Mark  records  five,  Luke 
seven,  Matthew  and  John,  each,  eight ;  but  no 
two  evangchsts  give  either  the  whole  inscrip- 
tion, or  select  the  same  words  from  the  whole. 
To  assume  that  any  one  intends  to  give  the 
whole  inscription  will  of  course  make  har- 
mony impossible ;  but  to  assume  that  each 
gives  so  much,  and  such  a  part,  of  the  whole 
as  suits  the  precise  object  of  his  narrative, 
relieves  the  various  accounts  from  all  antago- 
nism or  inaccuracy. 

VI.  Exceptions  do  not  invalidate  a  ruhy 
they  rather  prove  it.  This  is  a  common 
canon  of  all  criticism,  and  has  numerous 
applications  to  the  contents  of  Scripture. 

VII.  Hypotheses  may  be  of  great  value y 
in  unlocking  mysteries  and  obscurities, 
and  settling  doubts. 

It  has  long  been  an  established  law  of  all 
scientific  inquiry,  that,  wherever  a  supposition 
meets  all  the  facts  of  a  given  case  and  removes 
all  objections,  it  may  be  safely  adopted  as  the 
solution.  Kepler  sought  to  find  the  true  theory 
of  the  universe,  and  applied  eighteen  successive 
hypotheses  before  he  discovered  the  Harmonic 
Laws.  His  final  hypothesis  answered  all  con- 
ditions, like  a  perfectly  fitting  key  in  a  lock, 


58  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

and  it  was  admitted  as  the  true  solution  of 
planetary  orbits,  etc.  Upon  the  basis  of  a  mere 
supposition  the  old  Ptolemaic  theory  of  the 
universe  was  finally  overturned  and  the  true 
nature  of  planetary  motion  discovered. 

In  the  study  of  Scripture  truth,  let  us  not  be 
driven  from  a  satisfactory  hypothesis  which 
serves  as  an  explanation,  because  our  adver- 
saries clamor  for '' positive  "  or  ''mathemati- 
cal "  proofs.  The  burden  lies  with  them,  to 
prove  the  hypothesis  untenable  and  the  solu- 
tion unsatisfactory. 

VIII.  The  fact,  the  nature  and  the 
tcses  of  Paradox  in  Scripture,  should  be 
carefully  noted. 

A  Paradox  is  an  apparent  contradic- 
tion where  real  harmony  exists ;  a 
seeming  absurdity  which  is  still  a  fact,  or 
a  truth.  The  famous  ''Hydrostatic" 
and  "  mechanical "  paradoxes  will  illus- 
trate this  principle. 

There  are  in  Scripture  three  sorts  of 
paradoxes. 

I.  The  Proverbial.    Proverbs  xxvi.  4,  5. 


"  Answer  a  fool,  according  to  his  folly  ;  " 
"  Answer  not  a  fool  according  to  his  folly." 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  59 

The  reconciliation  is  plain  :  there  are  cases 
in  which  a  course,  proper  at  other  times,  is 
unwise.  A  fool  may  ask  a  question,  to  answer 
which  may  be  to  identify  one's  self  with  his 
folly:  again  he  may  ask  a  question,  to  answer 
which  may  be  to  show  him  his  folly. 

2.  The  Doctrinal. 

Philippians  ii.  12,  Work  out  your  own  salva- 
tion, for  it  is  God  which  zvorketh  in  you  both 
to  will  and  to  do. 

No  man  can  conic  to  me  except  the  Father 
draw  him  : 

Ye  ivill  not  conic  to  me,  etc.  John  vi.  44  ;  v. 
40. 

3.  The  Prophetical. 

Isaiah  liii.  abounds  in  these — there  are  in 
this  chapter  at  least  twelve  : 

Christ  was  a  Root  out  of  dry  ground,  yet 
fruitful ;  Christ  was  without  form  or  beauty, 
yet  God's  elect  Servant ;  Christ  was  despised 
and  rejected,  yet  the  accepted  Messiah  ;  Christ 
was  the  Suffering  and  Dying,  yet  Living  Sav- 
iour ;  Christ  was  without  generation,  yet  having 
numerous  Seed  ;  Christ  was  making  grave  with 
the  wicked,  yet  with  the  rich  ;  Christ  was  in 
adversity,  yet    in    prosperity ;  Christ   was   de- 


6o  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

feated  and  despoiled,  yet  conquering  and 
despoiling ;  Christ  was  cut  off  in  the  midst  of 
days,  yet  prolonging  his  days  ;  Christ  was 
condemned  himself,  yet  satisfying  many,  etc., 
etc. 


J^ROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  6 1 


PART   III. 

THE    USES  OF    DISCREPANCIES. 

We  now  approach  one  final  question ; 

Do  these  so  called  Discrcpajicies  serve 
any  Providential  purpose? 

We  cannot  believe  that  they  are  wholly 
accidental ;  and  a  careful  and  reflective 
study  will  show  us  that  they  do  answer 
certain  very  important  ends.  A  few  of 
these  it  may  be  well  to  mention. 

I.  These  apparent  discrepancies  serve 
first  of  all  to  show  us  that  the  Author  of 
the  Bible  h?i^  guarded  even  its  text  from 
essential  corruptions. 

How  little  all  these  discrepancies  amount  to 
in  the  aggregate,  is  amazing.  With  all  these 
extant  manuscripts  and  all  the  various  sources 
wlience  they  emanate,  the  text  of  the  scriptures 
is  in  all  vital  matters  essentially  unimpaired. 

The  variations  arc  numerous  but  unimpor- 
tant. They  consist  of  differences  in  orthog- 
raphy,   in    the    selection    and     collocation   of 


62  STUMBLIi^G  STONES  REMOVED 

words,  and  other  minor  matters.  In  the  He- 
brew manuscripts  over  three  quarters  of  a  mill- 
ion of  various  readings  may  be  counted,  as  to 
cojisonants  alone,  and  so  we  may  say,  in  propor- 
tion, of  the  New  Testament.  But  they  are  of 
little  or  no  account  in  the  main,  and  do  not 
affect  the  sense  any  more  than  the  different 
spellings  of  such  words  as  '  fulfil,' '  plough,'  etc. 

The  Masorites,  superstitiously  punctilious 
as  they  were,  became,  in  the  Providence  of  God, 
guardians  of  the  text  of  sacred  scripture. 
They  counted,  classified  and  recorded,  verses, 
words,  and  even  letters,  so  that  the  Bible  has 
come  down  to  us  with  a  text  purer  and  more 
certain  than  that  of  any  other  ancient  book. 
In  the  manuscripts  of  Terence,  and  within  a 
much  less  space  than  our  New  Testament,  Dr. 
Bentley  found  20,000  various  lections,  and 
affirmed  his  belief  that  upon  further  search  he 
would  more  than  double  the  number  of  such 
discoveries. 

In  the  manuscripts,  collated  for  Griesbach's 
Testament,  150,000  various  readings  occur. 
Yet  it  is  remarkable  that,  notwithstanding 
these  hundreds  of  thousands  of  variations,  the 
substance  of  scripture  is  not,  by  any  of  them, 
or  by  all  of  them  together,  materially  affected; 
not  one  article  of  faith,  not  one  moral  duty, 
not  one  theological  doctrine,  not  one  essential 
truth,  is  in  the  slightest  modified.     The  varia- 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  63 

tions  are  mostly  trivial,  relating  mainly  to  the 
names,  numbers,  dates,  or  to  the  letters  of  words. 
And  the  grand  result  is  that,  with  the  exception 
of  perhaps  from  a  dozen  to  twenty  verses,  the 
text  of  every  chapter,  paragraph  and  even  sen- 
tence of  scripture,  is  now  so  firmly  settled  that 
only  the  meaning  is  open  to  doubt  or  dispute. 
Compare  this  result  with  the  results  of  the 
study  of  Shakesperian  manuscripts.  See  Haley, 
p.  47. 

II.  These  discrepancies  serve  to 
awaken  and  stimitlate  intellecHcal  inquiry 
and  investigation.  It  is  the  study  which 
these  apparent  disagreements  have  made 
necessary,  by  which  we  have  been  led  to 
the  discovery  of  the  purest  text. 

As  variations  were  found,  they  naturally 
compelled  a  searching  and  scholarly  compari- 
son of  all  extant  manuscripts.  To  ascertain 
the  exact  date  and  source  of  each  manuscript, 
to  investigate  into  the  period  of  its  origin  and 
the  claims  which  it  possessed  to  recognition, 
caused  a  vast  expenditure  of  learning,  time 
and  pains.  And  the  consequence  is  that,  as 
families  have  traced  their  lineage  for  ages,  into 
a  remote  past,  so  we  have  developed  a  new  and 
distinct  science,  that  may  be  called  the  **  Gene- 


64  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

a  logy  of  the  Manuscripts^  Compare  West- 
cott  and  Hort's  Introduction  to  the  New  Test- 
ament. 

III.  These  discrepancies  furthermore 
teach  us  that,  valuable  as  is  the  letter  of 
scripture,  the  t7'7tth  which  it  conveys  is  of 
vastly  higher  importance. 

God  permitted  slight  variations  to  find  their 
way  into  the  text,  while  He  preserved  the 
testimony  of  all  the  manuscripts  essentially 
uniform,  unvarying  and  consistent ;  and  thus 
we  are  led  to  look  supremely,  not  at  the  diver- 
gence, but  at  the  convergence  of  their  testi- 
mony in  one  burning  focal  point  of  harmo- 
nious truth. 

IV.  These  discrepancies  have  estab- 
lished the  Independence  aad  Integrity  of 
the  sacred  writers. 

There  may  be  too  close  a  correspondence  in 
the  testimony  of  witnesses  ;  what  was  intended 
to  confirm  may  thus  tend  to  condemn.  The 
entire  absence  of  seeming  collision,  even  in 
trifling  details  or  minutise,  argues  intentional 
collusion,  or  conspiracy  to  deceive. 

In  courts  of  law,  evidence,  given  by  different 


FROM  THE  WOK  I)  OF  GOP.  (".5 

parties,  wliich  exactly  vau\  minutel}-  ai^rees,  is 
presumptive  proof  of  a  previous  arrangement. 
For  instance,  in  New  Bedford,  the  famous 
"  Rowland  will "  case  involved  $2,000,000, 
and  $150,000  were  spent  in  costs  of  a  trial 
extending  over  two  years.  The  whole  issue 
turned  upon  the  resemblance  between  two 
signatures  both  of  which  were  claimed  as 
Miss  Rowland's.  So  precisely,  however,  did 
the  second  match  the  first,  that  it  was  held  to 
be  a  forged  imitation. 

Those  who  cavil  at  slight  variations  in  the 
gospel  narratives,  forget  that  the  test  of  truthful 
testimony  on  the  part  of  witnesses,  is  substan- 
tial agreement  with  circumstantial  variations. 

V.  These  discrepancies  have  rather 
proven  the  real  vahie  of  the  Word  of  God. 

For  more  than  fifteen  centuries  the  com- 
plete Bible  has  been  the  target  of  malignant, 
bitter  hostility  and  assault.  Every  expedient 
of  learning  as  well  as  ridicule  has  been  ex- 
hausted to  overthrow  it.  It  has  been  sub- 
jected to  microscopic  scrutiny,  and  yet  these 
insignificant  *  defects,'  as  they  are  assumed  to 
be  by  the  enemies  of  the  truth  and  by  some  so- 
called  friends,  are  all  that  can  be  found  to 
justify  the  opposition  to  the  Bible  as  the 
inspired,  inerrant,  infallible  Word  of  God  ! 


66  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

Rev.  J.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D.,  of  St.  Louis,  once 
offered  $500.00  reward  to  any  one  who  would 
point  out  a  single  irreconcilable  contradiction 
in  the  Word  of  God.  After  four  weeks'  study  a 
sceptic  claimed  the  reward  :  he  had  made  the 
great  discovery,  and  here  it  is  : 

"  Matthew  xii.  30.  He  that  is  not  with  me 
is  against  me." 

*'  Luke  ix.  50.  He  that  is  not  against  us  is 
for  us  (!!)." 

VL  These  discrepancies  are  used  of 
God  to  instruct  the  docile  believer. 

Christ  told  his  disciples  that  he  used 
Parables  so  that  truth  might  at  once  be 
veiled  from  the  unteachable  and  yet  re- 
vealed to  the  obedient  and  docile.  For 
the  same  reason  God  uses  contradictions. 
Paradoxes  are  parables;  by  the  very 
contrariety  which  they  exhibit  they  stim- 
ulate thought,  and  arouse  curiosity ;  by 
the  effort  to  reconcile  them  we  are  some- 
times more  profited  than  by  any  mere 
comparison  of  similar  statements.  Com- 
pare John  XV.  15,  and  xvi.  12. 

Prophetic  paradoxes  serve  also  another  use  : 
they  are  designed    as    Enigmas,  presenting   a 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  67 

mystery  to  be  afterwards  solved  by  the  event. 
Thus  the  mystery  which  they  suggest  becomes 
a  lock,  to  which  history  becomes  the  key;  and 
the  perfect  fitting  of  key  and  lock  proves  a 
divine  hand  in  both  the  prophecy  and  the  his- 
tory.    Compare  Ezek.  xii.  13,  witli  Jer.  xxxix. 

7- 

Proverbial  paradoxes  compel  reflection  by 
their  apparent  divergence,  just  as  views  in  a 
stereoscope  often  make  necessary  a  fixed  and 
patient  gaze,  in  order  to  bring  the  two  pictures 
into  harmony  and  unity.  We  find  after  care- 
ful study  that  the  two  members  of  a  paradox 
are  evidently  meant  to  balance  each  other, 
each  helping  to  limit,  extend,  qualify  or  modify 
its  complementary  member.  They  present 
extremes  between  which  we  are  to  find  the 
golden  mean  of  truth,  as  the  mariner  finds  it 
his  safe  course  to  steer  midway  between  two 
headlands,  or  as  the  mechanician  produces  a 
resultant  by  using  two  forces  which  act  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.     (See  Haley.) 

VII.  These  discrepancies  also  become 
a  test  of  the  candor  and  ge^mznefiess  of 
the  Bible  reader  or  student. 

The  great  Teacher  presented  truth  in  forms 
suited  to  attract  the  truth  lover,  but  to  repel 
the  hypocritical  and   insincere.     His  teaching 


68  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

thus  became  a  sifting  process,  separating  the 
real  from  the  nominal  followers.  See  John  vi. 
35-69.  In  this  case  those  who  heard  Christ's 
words  "murmured  at  him,"  "strove  among 
themselves,"  called  them  "  hard  sayings,"  were 
"  offended,"  and  some  "  went  back  and  walked 
no  more  with  him."  Yet  it  will  be  seen  that, 
with  every  increase  of  their  opposition,  Christ, 
instead  of  modifying  and  mollifying  his  teach- 
ing, rather  increased  its  apparent  severity.  He 
knew  that  each  concession  to  unbelief  and  an 
unteachable  spirit,  would  only  embolden  the 
demand  for  new  concessions.  When  the 
disobedient  stumbled  at  his  saying,  instead  of 
retracting  or  qualifying  his  statement,  he  at 
least  repeated  it,  in  even  in  its  obnoxious  form. 
Compare  John  iii.  3-7. 

Our  Lord  seemed  to  give,  to  such  as  sought 
it,  an  occasion  of  stumbling.  When  modern 
teachers  find  any  statement  of  truth,  such  as 
the  sovereignty  of  God,  an  occasion  of  offence 
to  a  hearer,  they  make  haste  to  soften  and 
qualify  it.  Just  now  the  church  universal  is 
busy  revising  creeds,  as  though  to  adapt  them 
to  the  demands  of  a  worldly  type  of  christian 
character,  and  a  rationalistic  spirit.  Let  us 
remember  that  by  every  concession  we  make 
reason  bolder  in  its  demand  that  everything 
shall  be  squared  to  its  measure.  Christ  in  pur- 
suing  just    the    contrary   course    taught    his 


FROJr  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  69 

hearers  to  bow  implicitly  and  submit  with 
docility  to  the  truth — or  else  he  left  them  to 
stumble  over  it  and  fall  and  be  broken. 

VIII.  Thus  these  discrepancies  also 
discipline  the  triLc  believer  to  yield  an  un- 
questio7iing  obedience  to  the  tridh. 

Reason  has  its  province :  (a)  to  determine 
upon  rational  grounds  of  evidence  whether  or 
not  the  Bible  be  the  word  of  God  ;  (b)  then  to 
determine  what  that  word  teaches;  and  (c) 
what  are  the  relations  or  bearings  of  its  teach- 
ing upon  one's  self  and  one's  duty.  Beyond  this 
the  province  of  reason  ceases,  and  the  province 
of  faith  and  obedience  begins.  For  instance 
prophecy  is  of  great  significance  and  conse- 
quence, as  it  is  07i€^  if  not  the  main  one,  of 
those  "  seven  seals  "  set  by  God  as  His  sanction 
upon  His  Word.  Other  evidences  may  appeal 
to  believers  as  more  satisfactory,  but  these 
evidences  demand  faith  for  their  recognition, 
reception  and  appreciation.  When  an  inquirer 
comes,  in  doubt  and  darkness,  to  the  Bible,  to 
find  proofs  that  it  is  the  Word  of  God,  and 
therefore  has  a  claim  on  his  faith,  predictive 
prophecy  is  God's  grand  appeal  to  his  reason. 
"  We  have  also  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy, 
whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed  as  unto 
a   light    that    shineth    in    a    dark   place,    until 


70  S  TUMBL ING  S  TONES  RE  MO  FED 

the  day  dawn  and  the  day  star  arise  in  your 
hearts." 

In  fact  our  perception  of  truth  largely  de- 
pends upon  our  spiritual  attaiiiuient.  Hence 
paradoxes  are  often  reconciled  by  simple  obed- 
ience. Jno.  vii.  17.  By  doing  His  will  we 
come  to  know  the  doctrine.  There  is  a  hid- 
den harmony — a  higher  harmony  that  is  hid- 
den from  us — until  we  yield  up  our  whole  soul 
and  self  to  God  for  service,  and  yield  up  our 
whole  heart  and  mind  to  truth  in  rever- 
ence. 

Many  so  called  discrepancies  are  due  to  the 
disposition  and  determination  of  unfair  and 
uncandid  critics ;  "  aiit  inveniam  discrepoitiam 
aut  faciam^  What  Whately  says  about  wise 
men  and  fools  may  be  said  about  objectors  : 
It  is  easier  to  ask,  than  to  answer,  a  question, 
and  many  a  man  can  present  a  difficulty  who 
could  not  remove  it. 

In  Voltaire's  library  a  Swedish  traveler  found 
Calmet's  Commentary,  with  slips  of  paper  in- 
serted, on  which  all  the  difficulties  Calmet  had 
treated  were  carefully  noted,  but  not  one  of 
the  answers  and  solutiotis  whereby  he  met  and 
refuted  them. 

Prof.  Henry  Rogers  says,  that  Strauss' 
"  Life  of  Jesus  "  should  be  called,  "  a  collection 
of  all  the  difficulties  and  discrepancies  which 
honest  criticism  has   discovered,  or  perverted 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  7 1 

ingenuity  imagined,  in  the  four   evangelists." 
Haley  27,  28. 

Thus  what  veils  truth  from  carnal  minds 
may  reveal  it  to  the  spiritual :  and  the  same  doc- 
trine that  is  a  stiiDihling  stone  to  the  unbeliever 
is  a  stepping  stone  to  the  believer,     i  Pet.  ii.  8. 

IX.  The  obscurity  of  scripture  is  pro- 
bably made  to  serve  to  godless  reader's  a 
judicial  end. 

The  captious,  cavilling  critic  is  punished  by 
finding  the  very  snares  which  he  seeks,  and 
falling  into  them.  Perhaps  he  tries  to  make 
faith  impossible  in  others,  and  ends  by  making 
his  own  mind  simply  a  nest  of  objections,  a 
perch  for  the  unclean  birds  of  doubt  and  de- 
nial of  truth,  so  that  faith  can  find  no  resting 
place  in  himself.  He  tries  in  a  dishonest  spirit 
to  prove  the  Word  of  God  a  human  fraud  and 
falsehood,  and  is  himself  given  over  by  God  to 
believe  what  at  the  beginning  he  knew  was  a 
lie.  He,  who  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  his 
knowledge,  and  who  held  down  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness,  and  sought  to  turn  the  truth 
of  God  into  a  lie,  is  given  over  to  a  reprobate 
mind.  The  Judge  of  all  abandons  him  to 
strong  delusion. 

X.  Where  all  attempts  at  explanation 
or  reconciliation  fail,  the    believer  must 


72  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

learn  patiaitly  to  ivait  for  the  further 
light  which  dissolves  all  doubt. 

This  introduces  another  department 
of  the  subject,  which  the  author  has  exten- 
sively treated  in  another  work  entitled 
"Many  Infallible  Proofs." 

The  investigation  into  discrepancies 
has  served  to  reveal  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  agreements  which  would  not 
otherwise  have  been  disclosed,  and  which 
are  truly  wonderful  as  the  evidences  of 
the  divine  authorship  of  the  Bible,  as  well 
as  of  the  integrity  of  the  human  agents 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  employed  in  its 
production. 

The  Bible  has  been  decried  and  derided  as 
in  hopeless  opposition  to  science  and  irrecon- 
cilable conflict  with  modern  discovery.  But 
the  further  the  investigation  is  carried  the 
more  marvelous  proves  the  agreement  be- 
tween the  word  of  God  and  the  most  advanced 
certainties  attained  by  science. 

The  substantial  agreement  between  the  story 
of  the  creation  and  the  discoveries  of  geology  ; 
the  word  '*  firmament  "  or  expajisc,  as  applied 
to  the  space  between  the  heavens  and  the 
earth ;  the  order  of  creation,    from  the  lowest 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  73 

types  to  the  highest — fish,  reptile,  bird,  maiii- 
inal,  man  ;  the  countless  number  of  the  stars 
(Jer.  xxxiii.  22)  ,  the  four  supports  of  life — 
brain,  lungs,  heart,  nervous  system,  with  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  (Eccles.  xii.  6,  7)  ;  the 
nature  of  light,  as  called  forth,  not  "  made  " 
(Gen.  i,);  and  as  a  mode  of  motion  or  vibration 
akin  to  sound  or  music  (Job  xxxviii.  7,  Ps. 
Ixv.  8, — Hebrew,  to  give  forth  bvirations — Ps. 
xix.  etc.) ;  these  are  a  very  few  of  the  startling 
agreements  between  the  Bible  and  scientific 
facts  not  knoivn  by  man  until  long  after  the 
Bible  was  complete  ! 

Modern  believing  scientists  may  well  ask, 
how  the  infidel  can  account  for  such  anticipa- 
tions of  modern  discovery.  Compare  Ps.  cxix. 
32,  with  the  fact  that  the  staghound,  fleetest 
in  chase,  has  the  largest  heart,  in  comparison  to 
his  size,  of  any  animal.  The  ant's  brain  is 
entirely  composed  of  the  gray  matter,  whose 
preponderance  in  the  brain  is  the  measure  of 
intelligence.  Compare  Prov.  vi.  6.  The  agri- 
cidttiral  ant  does  prepare  a  harvest — as  recent 
investigation  shows — and  Solomon  did  not 
blunder  in  taking  for  grai?t  the  ant  eggs  or 
pup?e.  Compare  Prov.  xxx.  25.  Man  ivas 
made  of  the  dust  of  the  ground — and  the  most 
recent  analysis  shows  his  identity  in  material 
substance  with  the  ground  on  which  he  treads, 
etc.,  etc.     Compare  Gen.  i.  and  ii. 


74  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

To  those  who  wish  to  examine  the  wonder- 
ful agreement  of  the  Bible  with  the  facts  of 
history — one  of  the  foremost  of  sciences — we 
commend  the  careful  study  of  prophecy,  even 
to  its  nihmte  details,  for  the  uiimite  details  of 
prophecy  are  vital  to  the  prophetic  proofs ;  it 
is  these  minutiae  that  remove  a  prediction  from 
the  realm  of  sagacious  human  forecast  into 
that  of  divinely  inspired  foresight.  It  is  these 
also  that  make  the  difference  between  the  law  of 
"simple"  and  of  "compound  probability." 
Every  single  prediction  has  but  a  Jialf  chanee 
of  fulfillment  ;  and  hence  every  additional  de- 
tail halves  again  the  possibility  of  a  mere 
accidental  accomplishment.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  predictions  concerning  Messiah,  which 
are  most  indisputable  as  predictions,  because 
most  undeniably  remote  from  the  events  which 
they  foretell,  are  also  the  most  astonishingly 
minute  in  their  details.  The  late  Canon  Lid- 
don,  in  his  famous  Bampton  lectures,  gives 
three  hundred  and  thirty-three  particulars, 
prophesied  about  Messiah,  and  all  meeting  in 
him  alone.  By  the  law  of  compound  prob- 
ability we  must  raise  one-half  to  its  three 
hundred  and  thirty-second  power  to  get  the 
insignificant  fraction  which  represents  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  chance  fulfillment ;  that  fraction 
will  have,  as  its  numerator,  a  unit,  and  its 
denominator    will    reach    ninety-four  places  I 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  75 

Who  audaciously  dares  to  say  that  tlie  slightest 
particular  is  of  no  consequence  ?  The  ances- 
tral line,  the  exact  place,  time,  and  circum- 
stances of  Christ's  birth,  with  hundreds  of 
most  curiously  minute  marks,  go  to  make  up 
and  complete  that  Old  Testament  portrait- 
ure of  the  "  Coming  One ;  "  and,  even  when 
Christ  hung  upon  the  cross,  he  could  not  say, 
"  It  is  finished  I "  and  expire,  until  the  last 
and  least  Scripture  should  "  be  fulfilled  ;  "  and 
so  He  said,  '*  I  thirst !  "  And  yet  that  forecast 
of  his  dying  agony  was  not  in  a  formal  predic- 
tion, but  in  a  Psalm,  a  poem  whose  true  mean- 
ing is  read  only  when  in  its  jewelled  cavern 
the  Light  of  the  World  is  set ! 

In  a  portrait,  the  entire  fidelity  of  the  re- 
semblance may  depend  upon  one  line  which 
changes  or  determines  that  subtle  thing  called 
'■^  expressio7i  !  "  One  delicate  touch  on  the  eye- 
brow, the  turn  or  curve  of  an  almost  invisible 
line  about  the  mouth,  a  tinge  or  a  shade  of 
color  on  the  cheek,  a  vein  in  the  forehead,  one 
dainty  stroke  in  that  concave  of  the  upper  lip — • 
these  make  the  difference  between  the  work  of 
the  master  artist  and  his  amateur  pupils.  And 
the  Holy  Ghost  proves  himself  the  Divine 
Artist,  more  if  possible  by  his  most  minute 
and  delicate  strokes  and  touches  than  by 
his  bolder  and  more  conspicuous  outlines. 
What  was,  at    first,  a  drawing   without    color, 


76  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

at  last  becomes  a  complete,  recognizable   por- 
trait. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  grand  purpose  and  aim  we  have 
had  in  view  in  this  little  book,  has  been 
to  exalt  the  stipremacy  of  scripture. 
Various  attempts  are  making,  in  these 
days,  to  impair  confidence  in  the  claim  of 
the  Bible  to  be  the  Inspired  and  Infalli- 
ble Word  of  God,  and  the  supreme  guide 
in  faith  and  duty.  We  are  in  the  midst 
of  the  war  of  the  ages,  and  the  enemy  is 
assaulting  the  center  and  stronghold  of 
the  Christian  religion  ;  for  with  its  Sacred 
Book  is  inseparably  bound  up  its  Sacred 
Person, 

Some  of  the  friends  of  the  Bible  seek  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  positions  of 
its  foes,  by  giving  up  the  infallibility  and  in- 
errancy of  the  scripture,  and  conceding  that 
there  are  *' mistakes  "and  even  *' immorali- 
ties "  in  the  Bible ;  but  such  defenders  of  the 
Word  of  God  claim  that  its  inspiration  is  to  be 
found  not  in  the  "  words  "  but  the  *'  concept." 

We  regard  this  position  as  wholly  untena- 
ble, and  as  a  virtual  surrender  of  the  Bible  as 


I'ROM  THE   WORD  OF  GOD.  yj 

a  Divine  Book.  And  wc  lift  up  a  warning 
against  such  views,  by  whomsoever  promul- 
gated. 

The  contents  of  this  Book  of  Books  are 
especially  made  emphatic  in  its  very  title, 
"The  Word  of  God."  Repeatedly  does  the 
expression  occur,  '*  Words  which  I  command 
thee,"  etc.  Paul  echoes  the  Old  Testament 
sentiment  in  the  New  :  "  which  things  also  we 
speak,  7iot  in  ivords  ivhicJi  mans  wisdom  teach- 
ethy  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  tcachcth.''  And 
he  adds,  "  comparing  spiritual  things  with 
spiritual,"  which,  by  not  a  few,  is  regarded  as 
a  simple  expansion  of  the  meaning  i.  e.,  "ex- 
pressing spiritual  truths  in  spiritual  forms." 

Wordsworth  says,  "  Language  is  the  incar- 
nation of  thought."  Burke  regarded  every 
word  in  a  sentence  as  one  of  the  feet  on  which 
the  sentence  walks  ;  and  said  that,  to  alter  a 
word,  change  it  for  a  longer  or  shorter  one,  or 
give  it  a  different  position,  might  change  the 
whole  course  of  the  sentence.  There  are  in 
the  Bible  thousands  of  cases  in  which  the 
accuracy  of  the  "  concept  "  depends  on  the  ex- 
actness of  the  ''  word,"  and  even  of  the  shade 
of  meaning  which  it  conveys  and  by  which  it 
is  separated  from  others  of  its  class.  When 
God  sought  to  convey  to  man  an  adequate 
*'  concept  "  of  spiritual  truth,  the  task  was  the 
more   difficult    from    the    fact   that   heavenly 


78  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

things  were  to  be  conveyed  to  earthly  minds 
and  through  earthly  channels.  How  could 
even  God  impart  a  knowledge  of  such  matters 
without  leaving  the  door  open  to  serious,  if 
not  fatal,  error,  unless  he  guided,  at  least  by 
supervision  and  control,  the  very  words  in 
which  divine  conceptions  were  clothed  ? 

No  reader  of  the  New  Testament  Greek 
needs  to  be  told  that  the  whole  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  turns  on  a  single  word  {(hucuoavvri) ; 
and  so  important  is  it  that  the  reader  shall  not 
misunderstand  that  word,  and  the  exact  sense 
in  which  it  is  employed,  that  in  Rom.  iii.  25 
-26,  the  meaning  is  exactly  and  repeatedly  de- 
fined, •'  To  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time  his 
righteousness :  that  He  might  be  just  and  the 
justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus."  That 
is  righteousness,  in  the  sense  of  this  epistle. 
Are  we  to  be  told  that  the  concept  is  the 
inspired  thing,  not  the  word  ?  How  are  we 
to  get  the  true  concept  apart  from  the  right 
word?  To  form  a  wrong  conception  of  justifi- 
cation, as  here  used,  is  to  misconceive  that 
doctrinal  truth  which  lies  at  the  very  basis  of 
our  salvation.  There  are  over  five  thousand 
instances  in  Old  and  New  Testaments  where 
the  most  important  distinctions  hang  on  the 
choice  of  a  particular  word,  and  no  other, 
however  like  it,  will  suffice. 

It    is   unsafe   to   make   the   Bible   and   the 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  79 

Church,  and  the  human  Reason  joint,  or  co-ordi- 
nate, sources  of  divine  authority.  Both  the 
Church  and  Reason  are  authoritative  only  as 
they  are  conformed  to,  and  are  confirmed  by, 
the  Word  of  God.  The  voice  of  our  rational 
powers,  and  even  the  conuininis  consensus 
Christianoriivi,  like  the  fallible  standards  of 
weights  and  measures,  need  correction  by  the 
infallible,  as  the  watch  is  regulated  by  the 
chronometer,  and  even  the  chronometer  by 
God's  clock,  the  stars.  The  mariner  dares  not 
follow  even  his  compass  as  an  absolute  guide, 
lest  he  lose  his  course,  if  not  his  vessel.  The 
needle  may  have  intensity  of  directive  force 
and  susceptibility,  but  it  has  its  variations; 
the  magnetic  pole  must  be  corrected  by  the 
celestial  pole.  Reason  and  conscience,  and 
even  the  verdict  of  the  Church,  all  belong  to 
the  human  and  fallible,  and  we  must  steer  by 
the  constellations. 

The  supremacy  of  the  Word  of  God  is  the 
last  great  truth  which  is  the  Palladium  of 
Church  and  the  believer.  When  that  falls,  all 
else  falls  with  it  No  disaster  is  too  great  to 
follow  the  destruction  of  that  safeguard  of 
Protestantism.  And  we  should  look  well  be- 
fore we  admit  any  teaching  which  actually 
surrenders  this  inmost  citadel  of  our  faith,  or 
even  by  implication  weakens  or  lessens  the 
absolute  supremacy  of  the  word  of  God. 


8o  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED 

We  therefore  earnestly  ask  all  who 
wish  to  know  the  truth  and  find  the  hid- 
den treasures  of  the  Word,  not  to  be 
kept  from  a  thorough  exploration  of  its 
hidden  beauties  by  any  apparent  and 
superficial  discordancies  and  disagree- 
ments. These  are  but  the  iron  gates 
that  seem  forbidding  but  that  yield  to 
the  touch  of  a  reverent  and  obedient 
spirit  and  admit  us  to  the  "  House  Beau- 
tiful." 

And  a  Beautiful  Palace  it  is,  "built 
upon  the  fotmdation  of  the  apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone."  \n  formation^  com- 
posed of  the  most  precious  materials 
faintly  typified  in  the  cedar  and  shittim 
woods,  and  the  gold,  silver  and  precious 
stones.  In  coiistructioUy  it  follows  the 
law  of  a  divine  unity  and  archetypal 
beauty.  In  completeness,  it  is  divinely 
perfect.  The  believer  finds  all  his  wants 
and  cravings  met.  In  its  refectory  it  has 
milk  for  babes,  and  the  manna,  the  meat, 
the  honey,  for  strong  men  ;  in  its  lavatory 
are   the  fountains  of  the  water  and  the 


FROM  THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  8 1 

blood,  that  cleanse  and  sanctify  ;  In  Its 
pharmacy,  the  balm  of  Gilead  and  the 
panacea  for  all  ills  of  sin  ;  In  its  armory, 
the  whole  panoply  of  God  ;  In  Its  gallery, 
the  portraits  of  the  prophets,  patriarchs, 
apostles  and  saints  ;  in  Its  oratory,  the 
altars  of  sacrifice  and  incense,  prayer  and 
praise  ;  in  its  conservatory,  the  celestial 
plants  that  bloom  in  the  paradise  of  God; 
and  in  Its  observatory,  the  outlook  into 
the  very  heavens,  where  we  may  behold 
the  face  of  God. 

Blessed  is  he  who  enters  into  all  the 
wonders  of  God's  "House  Beautiful" 
whose  vestibule  is  so  low  and  whose  doors 
are  so  narrow  that  only  the  humble  and 
obedient  soul,  who  bows  as  he  goes  in, 
can  enter  at  all ;  and  whose  Inmost 
wonders  are  to  be  seen  only  in  the  clear 
light  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  guidance,  who 
with  celestial  lamps  Illumines  the  secrets 
of  God  to  him  who,  In  dependence  on  the 
great  Interpreter,  searches  the  scrip- 
tures. 

With  the  prayer  that  each  reader  may 
learn  to  find  in  what,  to  the  profane  and 


S2  STUMBLING  STONES  REMOVED. 

godless,  are  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a 
rock  of  offence,  the  stepping  stones  to 
higher  knowledge  and  faith,  the  author 
bids  his  reader 


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